Death's Power
by SeanPennname
Summary: Voldemort manages to kill Harry before Nagini is destroyed and the grim reaper is irate with the wizard. After twelve deaths Harry has not delivered Riddle to his deserved end The reaper has decided that Harry will receive training from both he and a powerful wizard before being sent back to destroy Riddle's tethers to life. Strong Harry. Harry/Tonks/Luna/Harem Slow-ish Updates
1. Chapter 1: The Killing Curse

**_Hear ye, hear ye, Ladies, Gentlemen, and all other kinds of mother fuckers. This is the newly edited and grammatically corrected first chapter of Death's Power. Please let it be known this fiction is rated M for Mature, meaning there will be sex, death, and a whole fucking ton of cursing. Enjoy._**

 ** _§ Parseltongue §_**

 ** _Thoughts_**

 ** _'mental communication'_**

 **I own only my original characters. Harry Potter and his world are the properties of J.K. Rowling.**

 _Chapter One: The Killing Curse_

"Avada Kedavra!" The pale, serpent-like form of Tom Riddle faded from view. Darkness was all that Harry had left. He screamed at the top of his lungs, flailed hopelessly, and cursed his lack of skill. He had one job! Tom had only Nagini tying him to the mortal world, but Harry had failed to kill the beast and make Riddle once again human.

"Are you really going to flail about like a toddler throwing a tantrum? I know I'm unending but you should at least have a sense of urgency," a drawling voice nearly pierced his mind. Where there was darkness, suddenly a room came into view. Hard marble floors, Walnut book shelves covered each wall from top to bottom, and a huge mahogany desk with matching mahogany chairs sat in the middle of the room. The shelves were full of books that looked to be anywhere from the first ever published to something printed yesterday. Hermione would absolutely gush at the sight before him, well, aside from the skeletal figure sitting on the other side of the desk. "I see you've had enough of the surroundings and finally see me," the skeletal man made a wave of his hand offering Harry a seat. "Please, sit. We have much to talk about." Harry took his seat and studied the man before him.

He was tall, sallow, and his suit was so black it seemed to suck the light out of his surroundings. His eyes were the palest blue he'd ever seen, long skeletal hands folded over one another on top of the desk. "Twelve times. You and I have met twelve times and every single time you insist on aiming your focus where it shouldn't be," the man's gaze narrowed, "my image is an old one boy. I did give up the hooded robe nearly three thousand years ago yet you protozoa swear up and down I take you with a scythe and billow of my robes."

"W-wait, you're death? The grim reaper?" All was lost if he truly was sitting across from the grim reaper. No running, no fighting, and bargaining would probably not sit right with him. The last wizards that bargained with him received items that inadvertently led to their demise, all except for Ignotus.

"You are correct, attempting to strike a deal with me will not end the way it did for your ancestor Ignotus. If you would stop bloody worrying about how to get out of this place I could tell you we're meeting to discuss how you will finally deliver Tom Fucking Riddle to me!" The last five words were a snarl and with his rage the room shook while a scythe appeared on the desk in front of the reaper. It was all bone and silver, the instrument of death had a strange sort of aura that penetrated his mind and soul without touching him. Regaining his composure, the reaper waved his hand quickly over the scythe and it vanished from sight. Harry felt safe for a moment before the man began to speak again. "You are to receive personal training here from a wizard that to this day has not been beaten, save by me." Death smirked, showing yellowed teeth. "When that is done I will review your magical knowledge and skills and then offer you a style of training no wizard has ever used. Riddle will die of a heart attack when he sees your new skills." The reaper leaned forward and flicked Harry's head and there was darkness again.

* * *

Time passed differently here. It had to. Years of learning and his body did not age. Harry could feel his magical power growing, though. He had reached the level of skill that he could fling high powered spells for what felt like days on end. Death had given him over to Merlin of all wizards for training! In the years he'd been working with Merlin he still barely managed to hit the ancient bastard once every hundred spells he flung at him. The benefit of training in what the reaper called "The Ether" was that he only felt pain even with the unforgivable curses. Merlin had hit him dead in the face during their first lesson with the killing curse and all Harry felt was a hard punching sensation and he nearly blacked out. Today was strange, though, Merlin was casting almost only curses meant to dismember him. Harry had to erect both magical and transfigured shields. The cutting curses broke through the transfigured barriers but not the magical ones. He fired a single overpowered bone breaking curse at Merlin's head and it caught him unaware, twisting his head a full 360 and causing the ancient man to fall to the floor. Immediately **he** appeared. Today his suit was obsidian in color with a brilliant red tie and white shirt beneath, scythe firmly in his grasp. The reaper turned and swung the fell weapon in Merlin's direction and the man Harry had finally beaten simply faded into nothingness. Death turned back to Harry, vanishing his scythe and conjuring a pair of swords. He offered one to him.

"Today we begin training with a weapon Riddle will never be able to understand, the sword." The reaper swung his sword at Harry with reckless abandon. The only thing that kept him from being split at the shoulder was his raw magic he had learned could augment his body's defenses. "Bad wizard!" Death only poked Harry's chest but the force of an automobile wreck threw him back. "When you fight me you will not augment your physical body until you have delivered a single wound that would be mortal to any of your fellow parasites. Now ready yourself!" The reaper lunged forward with his blade and Harry rolled out of the way.

The whole business with Merlin was the easy part of this ordeal! Blades crossed and curses rose into the ether as Harry learned the art of the sword from Death. "I'm so very old that I cannot remember my birth, boy!" His blade slashed Harry's collarbone, "the art of the sword is my own invention and those who practice it pay homage to me. You are now my disciple and you will learn how to hold a fraction of my power within your hands." The training went on for what seemed like decades.

* * *

Harry was back in the room he had playfully dubbed the death cave. It felt like it had been a century training under the grim reaper. What seemed like minutes ago he had stricken him with a thrust to the heart and, much to the reaper's surprise, forced his blade to shatter inside the reaper's body. Darkness had engulfed him for a moment and then he was back where it had all begun. Across the desk sat a very pleased grim reaper. "Finally, a wizard that can wield a blade with skill. Tom Riddle will truly fear you if you have to display this skill before you take him on." Death waved his right hand and heavy silver shackles appeared on Harry's wrists. They were covered in runes and not only weighed his hands down, but it felt like his own essence was weighed down.

"What do these do?" Harry followed up quickly, "they make me feel like I did when I first got here. So weak and incapable." He tried to build up his magic like he had been doing during his training only to feel much less power than he was used to coming to the surface.

"I see you've noticed that your magical power is back to where it was when we met this last time." Grim, as Harry had begun referring to him in his head, smiled and continued. "These shackles have limited your magical power to five percent of your maximum strength. You are in complete control of these shackles but you can only release up to twenty percent of your full power before they shatter and release your full power. They are able to limit you to as little as half of one percent of your power and are set using your voice. Go ahead, set it to one percent. The words you're looking for are 'limiting seal to one percent'." Grim looked absolutely through Harry as he adjusted his limiter. Harry now felt about as powerful magically as he had at the end of his first year of schooling. He looked expectantly at the reaper as if to ask 'what now?'

"Now that you are prepared for it, I will be sending your mind and soul back to your body the day before Lucius Malfoy left Riddle's horcrux with Miss Weasley. If at all possible do not let her touch it and destroy it as soon as you are able. The basilisk must be destroyed as well, I will have no creature killing so efficiently in a place where the future learns. Death is inevitable but many of the children in that school including you could be slain by the basilisk quite easily." Grim scratched his hairless chin, "Also please keep the limiter on at least until the Triwizard Tournament begins. Your maximum magical power will be more than double what it is now by then if you keep them on. Needless to say at double your current maximum power you could effectively shield yourself from dragon's fire or blow a hole in one with an overpowered piercing spell. I would like to see you cut through the colony of mermen with a sword, though. I may have to come watch those events." Harry beamed at Grim while he thought of ways to kill the bloody basilisk without looking into its eyes. "Also, don't call me Grim. If you must give me a name please call me Joe." Sighing and rising from his desk, "well it's time to send you back. Remember to destroy those horcruxes as fast as possible and crush Riddle when he comes back at the end of your fourth year. I'm rooting for you, kid." Joe leaned forward and flicked Harry's head once again. He fell into darkness.

* * *

For the first time in what felt like a century Harry awoke to the sound of snoring. Not just any snoring mind you, but the resounding snores of his best friend Ron Weasley. Laying in the darkness of his ginger friend's room, Harry wondered just how he would take the diary without Ginny or any other Weasley noticing. Perhaps he could fake a fainting spell and hide it down his shirt before he comes back up. First thing's first, though, during his training Harry had the body of a nearly eighteen-year-old and now he was in his twelve-year-old body. How much physical skill would he have to build up to be back to normal? What about agility? _Oh god, I have to deal with Dobby sending that bludger after me! Should I just carry my wand and blow it out of the air? Will that disqualify my team?_ Deep in thought Harry didn't notice missus Weasley enter the violent orange room.

"Boys! It's time to get up. We need all the time we can get to finish all our shopping in Diagon Alley." Miss Weasley seemed even more tired than usual today. More tired than Harry remembered at least.

"Mum, it doesn't take an adult to floo to the leaky cauldron or enter the alley. Harry and I could show up at lunch to get our books." At the end of Ron's whining, his mother threw a misplaced shoe at him. The Weasley matriarch didn't even need to speak to break Ron from his sleepy stupor. With his battle experience, Harry could feel that it wasn't just her motherly presence that had always affected the family, but it was her own magical power filling the area she was in. In Ron's little room under the attic, her power could be felt in every inch of the room. On reflex alone, from his time with Merlin and Joe, Harry forced out his limited magical power to lessen the pressure on him. Molly Weasley could feel Harry's magical power surround him, waking her to the fact that she had unconsciously forced her own power to permeate the room. Withdrawing her magical presence she simply told Ron and Harry that breakfast was in five minutes and they had better be there.

As Mrs. Weasley left the room Harry bolted up and began dressing, noting that his magical power was maybe a quarter of hers when he was limited to one percent. If she was as powerful as the average magical adult, including purebloods, at ten percent power Harry could decimate death eaters in his sleep. Finally pulling on his trainers, Harry turned to the once again sleeping Ron. He decided to see just how well he could now manage the magic he poured into a spell by casting a body levitating spell on Ron's foot. His oldest friend was nearly flung from his bed and into the air seemingly dangled by his foot. Harry winced and cut off his magic flowing into the spell, causing Ron to fall immediately on his shoulder. "Bloody hell, mate! Why in the name of Merlin did you decide to do that? I didn't even hear an incantation." The shock and anger were apparent in his best friend's face. The surprise on Harry's face must have been apparent as Ron began to laugh uncontrollably. "Harry...your...face...oh Merlin...was that an accidental spell?" Ron was gasping for breath. Apparently, Harry's surprise was more entertaining that Ron's anger at his drop. He quickly pulled on his muggle clothes and rushed down the stairs to get as much food as he could.

* * *

This was concerning. His magical power was far too refined for a boy fresh out of his first year of Hogwarts. Molly Weasley nearly sprinted to her room she shared with Arthur and began to furiously write a letter to Dumbledore.

 **Albus,**

 **This morning when I was scolding the boys for being late risers I accidentally filled Ron's room with my magical aura. The moment I did it Harry released his own and it felt so...dense that I nearly fainted. It was both more powerful than what you'd expect a first year to possess as well as more refined and efficient. My aura was stronger but his was nearly perfect for defending from most magical and physical damage. I don't understand how he has this kind of power. Could it be something to do with the Quirrel incident last June?**

 **Best of health,**

 **Molly**

The Weasley matriarch quickly found Hermes and sent him to Dumbledore at once. _Hopefully, nothing is wrong with Harry._ Albus mentioned something about You-Know-Who's shade attacking Harry after Quirrell was killed. If somehow Harry was completely fine then his magical power will be able to protect her precious Ginerva. She had been absolutely dogging Ron, Percy, and the twins for information on the Boy-Who-Lived. His interests, habits, grades, even his strong friendship with Ron and Hermione were considered extremely important to Ginny. She even worried that because Harry had a female friend, he wouldn't want to be with her eventually. Becoming the wife of Harry Potter has been Ginny's dream since she knew who he was, even more so since she had seen him in person. Molly would give absolutely anything to see Harry truly become her son and marriage to her only daughter was the most efficient way to achieve this goal.

Shaking her head and Heading to the kitchen, Molly mused on just when Harry and Ginny would begin to see each other and eventually marry. She'd love to have a grandchild, though not from her daughter for at least 7 years. Fred and George were in the kitchen practically inhaling bacon sandwiches, grinning all the while at the mess they had made of Percy's prefect badge. It now read "Plonker" in bright gold. After harshly demanding the twins return his badge to its original state and consciously filling the kitchen with her magical aura the twins acquiesced. She quickly restrained herself and began fussing over the boys and her silent daughter. When Harry and Ron made it down five minutes later, the whole family, plus her dark haired adoptee, was together and packing away as much food as possible to sustain them for the day of shopping.

* * *

Flooing to Diagon Alley this time was much easier and didn't end in a foray into Knockturn Alley. Harry and the Weasleys arrived through the Leaky Cauldron's fireplace, covered in soot and ash, at 9:27 a.m. The breakfast crowd in the bar had not dissipated as they walked out into the courtyard to tap on the three bricks that gave entry to the Alley. It was a beautiful sight. Harry remembered how empty the alley had felt when he, Ron, Hermione, and Griphook had returned to steal Helga Hufflepuff's enchanted cup, as it was one of Riddle's horcruxes. The alley they had seen then was destitute, all the old kindly shops had been replaced by shops more inclined to the darker of the two alleys due to Riddle's little band of fools running every shop that didn't support them out of business. Now that Joe had sent him back all the good old businesses were still running merrily. Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor was there just as he remembered and the kindly man was beaming at all to pass his place of business.

"Looks like we'll need mostly books Harry." The ginger boy groaned, he loathed books and reading.

"Shouldn't we try and find Hermione first?" Harry thought it best to remind Ron of their friend's presence in the alley today with her parents.

"That should be quite hard as we spotted you coming out of the floo in the Leaky Cauldron. Hello Harry," The bushy brunette nearly tackled him and applied a bone breaking hug. After maintaining her death grip on Harry for about a minute, she turned to Ron and merely nodded before turning back to the Boy-Who-Lived. "We were enjoying a leisurely breakfast before heading to get the new books, there are so many to get this year. The new defense professor must be planning for us to have a thorough grounding in theory, but I hope we still get plenty of practical experience as well." The look in her eye told Harry that his friend had been eagerly looking forward to the chance to acquire more knowledge by prying it from every book she could. Were he a book his only fear would be Hermione Granger, with water coming in a distant second.

"I think I'm looking forward to who out new professor will be more than the reading," Ron began before Harry elbowed him in the ribs.

"I wouldn't be so hopeful Ron, based on the books it's someone obsessed with this Lockhart bloke. Probably a witch that idolizes him based on his fictions." Harry drew back as he was slapped multiple times on the arm by the bushy haired bookworm.

"Harry. James. Potter. Lockhart's. Books. Are. Not. Fiction!" Each slap added emphasis to her words. Harry should have known better than to besmirch books near Hermione Jean Granger. _Don't ever forget that speaking ill of the written word ends in slaps with my best friend._ Harry looked at her with an expression of sorrow and hurt. His message seemed to get through to her because her face softened considerably. "Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, These are my parents, Daniel and Emma Granger." Harry finally noticed the couple behind Hermione. They were quite kind looking, her father was tall and his hair was graying. He wore horn-rimmed glasses and a black suit with a pale blue shirt and no tie. The woman could only be Hermione's mother. Her bushy hair and hazel eyes were definitely traits passed to her daughter. Emma hugged Harry much like her daughter had just done while Daniel simply shook both boy's hands beaming the whole time.

"We've heard so much about you boys, especially your kindness Harry." Harry blushed brilliantly at receiving that bit of praise from an adult. It didn't go unnoticed by both of the adults before them. "Hermione tells me you braved a three-headed dog armed only with a flute and your wand only two months ago. I don't know what possessed you children but you should have never entered a room with a creature more than twice your size." She looked kind, yet severe the whole time she spoke of their run in with Fluffy. Harry could only look down at his feet as his conditioning from dealing with the Dursleys kicked in. The hundred-year-old mind in a twelve-year-old body could not seem to overpower his muscle memory. Emma looked at Harry curiously before sharing the look with her husband who was equally confused by the boy's demeanor. Before they could ask what was wrong a slightly balding red haired man approached them while practically bouncing at the chance to meet some muggles.

"You must be Hermione's parents. I'm Arthur Weasley, nice to meet you both." Harry was safe from scrutiny now, Mr. Weasley would occupy the Grangers for the rest of the day until Flourish and Blotts and his altercation with Malfoy. Harry grabbed Ron and Hermione and gestured towards Gringotts.

"But Harry I haven't got an account there," she began.

"You can take some from my vault 'Mione. It's a trust vault that gets replenished by the main family vault every January. Ron can get his school funds for this year from my vault as well." Harry asserted himself over the repeated protests of his best friends as they made their way to the goblin ran bank.

"Mate, I can't take your gold. Mum would kill me and you for taking and offering." Ron seemed to be hosting a mental battle between his want for new school supplies and his fear of what his mother would say about accepting charity. "Oh, fine. But when she goes mental I'm telling her it was your fault it happened." A smile appeared on his freckled face before he asked, "D' you think you'd be able to buy a nimbus 2000 with the amount of gold in your trust vault?"

"No mate, I don't have enough gold in my trust for that and school supplies for the three of us," he smiled before adding, "I could buy you both a set of gold scales for potions quite easily." The trio had arrived at the bottom of the white marble stairs to the massive bank. The bronze set of doors and the silver set were almost a blur and Ron was now rushing to get his hands on a little bit of gold, even if it was charity. Harry knew that dealing with the Goblins today would work out well for him in the future as he planned on opening a few businesses and buying a little bit of land near Hogsmeade village. The business went by quickly and the trio grabbed a sack full of galleons, sickles, and knuts.

* * *

Everything was going exactly as it had the last time through. Flourish and Blotts was so filled with witches hoping for his signature as if the man could sit for more than five minutes without signing something. Harry being drug to the front and embarrassed with the bastard trying to elevate his own fame went the same. Even the fight between Lucius and Arthur went the same ending in the pale prat slipping Riddle's diary into Ginny's second-hand cauldron. As Harry dumped his full set of Lockhart's books into her cauldron he slipped the diary out and hid it in his oversized sweatshirt. _Success!_ He had his first horcrux and was going to take it to the chamber of secrets shortly after getting to Hogwarts and deal with it there. Thinking on it, he would need to grab Ravenclaw's diadem from the room of requirement as well. Then it hit him. He could use the room of requirement to physically build his body up so he could be stronger than he was when training with Merlin and Joe. _Now how will I kill the basilisk?_ The sword of Gryffindor won't present itself to him this time as there won't be any petrifications or Ginny being drawn into the chamber. Would it listen to him since he was a parselmouth? Or would it attack him as he opened its home? Finally deciding that he would train in the room of requirement until just after Halloween then kill the basilisk, take its fangs, and destroy the two horcruxes in his possession. The remainder of the trip in the alley was quite boring and once they had returned to the Burrow Harry hid the diary away in the very bottom of his school trunk, under even his first year's course books.

The rest of his time at the Burrow went by in a flash. In the blink of an eye, it was 9 a.m. on the first of September. The house was full of the sounds of eight people rushing about making sure things were packed away and in Mr. Weasley's enchanted car. After many false starts, they were on their way to King's Cross station, arriving with just ten minutes before the Hogwarts Express was scheduled to leave. The seven flame-haired people and single raven haired boy rushed to the barrier of platforms nine and ten. Not interested in listening to the order that would have Ron and he passing through the barrier last Harry just made a break for it and apparently surprised Dobby because he made it through the barrier unmolested.

Once on the other side Harry looked around and spotted a face he'd seen not too long before being sent back. His hair was still entirely platinum blonde instead of the blonde and gray mixture when he had given the trio information on the deathly hallows, but otherwise, Xenophilius Lovegood looked exactly the same. The little dreamy eyed girl beside him with radish earrings was looking around stunned at the hustle of the platform. This was the youngest Harry had ever seen his friend Luna. She was an adorable blonde with pale blue eyes, blue eyes that were staring directly at him! _Oh, this is going to be good. No one would believe that I met the grim reaper except for Luna and maybe her father._ Making a point to look like he accidentally ran into the blonde, Harry fiddled with Hedwig's cage while slowly moving towards her. Her help in finding Ravenclaw's lost diadem had brought the wizarding world one step closer to being free of Tom Riddle. She had also revealed during their time at shell cottage that she had been mercilessly picked on by other members of her house. Fury boiled up in him at the thought of her having to suffer in silence again. He would make sure that **never** happened this time around.

"Hello, Harry Potter," her dreamy voice was slightly higher than he remembered it. Xenophilius did an exaggerated double-take before staring blatantly at his curse scar. Thinking it would be best to surprise her he quickly began thinking of small things about her.

"Hi Luna Lovegood," The dreamy eyes widened slightly as she realized he knew her already.

"How is it that you know me, Harry? We've never met," she looked him over studiously while twirling a finger through her blonde locks. Was he a seer and had seen a vision of her from the future?

"I've stayed with the Weasleys for the last month and they mentioned that the Lovegood home was not far from the Burrow. They also mentioned you were a blonde with golden curls, a habit of wearing radishes as earrings, and that you'd be starting Hogwarts this year." Harry's logical points would save him from explaining in front of Xeno hopefully. Luna stared at him for a few moments before replying.

"I suppose that makes sense. I haven't played with Ginny or Ron in about 2 years. I think Ron finds me unsettling and weird because I do not love quidditch as he does. Also, he did not enjoy speaking about crumple horned snorkacks or nargles," she finished thoughtfully. Something about Harry's answer bothered her greatly. His eyes were such a bright green that she felt like she was staring into a vibrant forest. A heat burned in her core as she maintained eye contact with the boy-who-lived. What was going on with this boy? She was unable to remain aloof around him and shared more than she normally would.

"Well, I'd love to hear about Snorkacks and Nargles sometime if you're not busy. Are you riding in a compartment with anyone yet? I think Ron, Hermione and I could do with another friend in ours." Harry finished. The best way to keep Luna from being picked on was to hope that she'd be sorted into Gryffindor like him. Her courage was undeniable since she had followed him into the department of mysteries back in his fifth year. Her intelligence was also incalculable. She had bested even Hermione who had always had a very linear thought process with her own non-linear one.

"Are you sure they will agree to have me in the same compartment? Ron has always worn his heart on his sleeve and had very little tact. He will most likely not find being in my company fun." Luna's grin was a little malicious, much like the twins when they were about to see a new invention go through testing. "I'd love to join you in the train compartment Harry," this time her smile was so warm Harry could feel the heat coming off her.

"Brilliant, let me help you with your trunk," grabbing her trunk he began to drag it towards the Express. The remaining Weasleys arrived around him and they boarded the train to the most beautiful place Harry had ever been. After situating their respective luggage, the group began to chat animatedly. Even Ginny joined the trio along with Luna. The two incoming firsties rekindled their old friendship in minutes and Ron seemed uncomfortable the entire trip. Hermione kept shooting Harry furtive and questioning glances as she got to know the surprisingly intelligent yet weird blonde. The trip was going quite well until Draco Malfoy, a sallow platinum blonde Slytherin appeared with his two brutish bookends.

"Adding more blood traitors to your group of scum Potter?" The pale boy sneered. Crabbe and Goyle began cracking their knuckles as Draco started again. "Another Weasel and this freak bring you up to five wastes of magic. At the very least you're letting proper wizards know who can be trusted and who can't." The smug little bastard was grinning like a king impressing his power on paupers. This was also something else Harry would not allow this time around. Crabbe, Goyle, and Malfoy were all sons of death eaters and would be death eaters in four to five years anyway so it would be best to show them what power he truly had. Standing up between the soon to be death eaters and his friends, Harry began focusing his magic in his fists and arms as he had when he was training with Joe.

"Your fathers should hear about this at your earliest convenience boys," Harry smirked as he flicked Draco's forehead, knocking the pale child out in the manner Joe had favored with him. The big brutes made to draw their wands but the boy-who-lived was faster than them and landed a single punch each to their enormous jaws, sending them toppling into the corridor like their leader. Drawing his wand while laughing, Harry cast a silent banishing charm on all three unconscious boys to send them back to where the Slytherin compartments were. Closing the door and turning back to his flabbergasted friends, he grinned like a Cheshire cat before retaking his seat.

"What in the bloody hell was that Harry?! There's no way you could take out those massive gargoyles with one hit each. That flick on Malfoy though, bloody brilliant!" Ron was absolutely amazed at his best friend's strength.

"Just something I learned while I was at the Dursleys this summer. If I focus my magic into my fists I can break stones with my punches." Harry stood and focused his magic into his head as he removed his glasses. "Ron, try punching my face now that I've focused my aura on making it sturdier."

"Uh, what if I hurt you mate?" Ron began to stutter, "I-it wouldn't be right if I were to gain a r-reputation for hurting you now." He was staring pointedly at his feet to hide a blush from the other occupants of the compartment.

"Mate, I've tested this with my punch happy cousin already." Smiling though he could only see an orange blur in front of him, "the man-sized pig nearly broke his hand the first time he tried to hit me and my aunt broke a cast iron pan trying to punish me for hurting ickle diddykins." Harry's grin was so broad that you could count all his teeth, not unlike a certain fraud about to start teaching as the DADA professor.

"It's your funeral mate," Ron wound up and swung hard at his best friend's face, only to come away with a smarting hand, eliciting a laugh from Harry. "Fuck, Harry what kind of magical aura do you have? Is your magic made of metal?"

"Ronald Weasley! Language!" Hermione and Ginny reprimanded the lanky redhead for his use of profanity. Luna could not contain herself and began howling with laughter at the two motherly girls.

"Why don't I teach you guys how I did it this coming weekend?" Harry suggested to the group. "We could all benefit from having increased physical resistance to pain. I haven't tested it yet but maybe if I focus my aura on my whole body I could block spells entirely without having to occupy my wand." He turned to Hermione and Ginny, "Girls, would you do the honor of sending a few weak spells at me," his face screwed up in concentration before becoming passive again. "Now would be fine."

"Stupefy!"

"Bombarda!" The spells hit him dead on before fizzling into nothingness. No damage was caused to him at all and Ginny was the first to exclaim, "You're teaching me that so Fred and George can't summon my things away from me again." This was the first time in this timeline that the youngest Weasley had addressed him. His mouth hung open a little before he collected himself and nodded to the ginger girl.

The rest of the ride to Hogwarts the four entertained themselves by hurling spell after spell at Harry, only a single spell got past his magical defense. Luna's warming charm was nothing painful but the young girl had accidentally overpowered it, causing Harry to strip down to just his jeans and trainers. If Ron turned red when embarrassed, Ginny became scarlet. Matching the young girl both Hermione and Luna blushed at the sudden lack of clothing on the famous wizard. After he had dispelled the warming charm Harry decided to change into his school robes. the others followed suit while he and Ron waited out in the corridor to protect the girls' modesty.

* * *

Albus, the leader of the light, was hurriedly checking all the silver whirring ward and health monitors pertaining to young Harry Potter. All of the devices were reading the same as they had since the boy had left Privet Drive with the Weasleys. The specific magical power monitoring charm was reading Harry's power at the same as it had been at since the end of last year when Quirrel and Voldemort's shade had been overpowered by the extraordinary boy. Once the welcoming feast commenced he would be able to gauge how refined Harry Potter's magical aura has become. If Molly was correct, the contact with Voldemort may have increased Harry's power and control in a massive way. It couldn't be allowed if so.

The boy needed to remain weaker than average if he was to fall to Tom and make him mortal once again. Only then could Albus sweep in and kill the dark lord as he had done to his old friend Grindelwald. This time, he could change the wizarding world of Britain in a way that no other dark wizards would rise. He would run for Minister of Magic and force through laws that would limit the powers of all witches and wizards in Britain. The half blood and muggleborn wizards were much more magically powerful than their pureblood counterparts now more than ever. If they weren't limited soon all of the old money in this world would have no inheritors as most purebloods loved to attack more powerful muggleborns. This would be unacceptable as the goblins of Gringotts would then possess all of the gold lost to human hands.

All magicals must be limited. Albus had done his part to make sure that the education of young wizards and witches was severely lacking compared to fifty years ago when Riddle gained the knowledge and skill to rule as the dark lord Voldemort. It was now the time to limit the rest of magical Britain. First, he would need to find out if the boy had gained any magical potency or refinement, then he would limit the boy and obliviate him. It was a wise idea to bring Molly into the planning phase of his work. She would be useful later on when Harry began to lust after girls and her daughter would hang on to the boy with every ounce of her being. Maybe she'd even have a new Potter heir in her before Harry fulfilled his life's purpose. That was the only good that could come of his connection to Voldemort.

It all hung on one boy. Harry must be a weak and meek boy. His friends must be in short supply and he must be willing to die for the good of this world. He can't be allowed to see the darkness the world truly has outside of his horrid aunt and uncle's home. He hoped that hiring the simpleton Lockhart would make him absolutely hate the limelight his fame could be a gateway to. Speaking of Lockhart, he was due to arrive shortly before the students and he would prove useful in keeping the boy from gaining the ability to hold his own against Tom.

* * *

The train rumbled to a stop as darkness had fallen properly. Emerging from the express, Harry, Ron, and Hermione began to head for the carriages. The towering figure of Hagrid was overseeing the first years and bellowing "Firs' years foller me. Firs' years" after all the new students. A loud "'Arry, how was yer ride?" came when the half-giant spotted him. Reaching the area where the carriages picked up students in Hogsmeade Harry noticed that his past experience stuck with him. The thestrals were very much visible to him just as he knew they'd be visible to Luna. Approaching them this time he knew to avoid bringing up that he saw them, happy that his strange new friend wouldn't be able to bring the creatures up until next year's carriage ride.

Settling into one of the first carriages they came to, the trio departed Hogsmeade for their beloved Hogwarts. The ride was fairly short and highly uneventful, Ron and Hermione had an argument over how the carriages were propelled and the fourth member of their carriage, Dean Thomas, did not find any of that interesting, instead opting to spend time asking Harry how he had taken down Malfoy. Not wanting to share his skills with anyone but his closest friends yet, Harry deflected by pointing out that the greasy gits had nothing powerful other than numbers. Luckily before the black boy could inquire further, the carriage ground to a stop. Harry made a point of being the first to exit. Once he had escaped the narrow confines of the school carriage he waited a few moments to allow his best friends time to fall in line behind him before setting off for the doors to the entrance hall.

* * *

Standing firm and stoic just inside the entrance hall was one of Harry's favorite teachers, the Transfiguration Mistress Minerva McGonagall, her thin lips drawing back into a smile seeing the young children who would one day run the wizarding world of Britain. These kids would be wonderful contributors to the world, with a few exceptions. She could clearly see a few of her favorite troublemakers making their way to the front of the group entering the hall. Harry, Hermione, and Ron all looked to have grown a bit. Harry had most definitely grown more than she had thought he would, seeing as last year he appeared underfed and magically weak for a boy of eleven. The young lion had reached the height of five feet and had begun to gain weight which was excellent. Even his passive magical aura felt much stronger and more refined than it had at the leaving feast. Minerva felt a very feline purr in her mind looking at the budding wizard, apparently, her cat side had taken a motherly affection for the young man.

"Go on you lot, into the great hall and prepare for the sorting." The transfiguration mistress was eagerly looking forward to starting a new year of molding young minds into productive members of society. Hopefully, a future minister of magic was walking past her right now. Just looking at Potter, though, if anyone as a child could scream auror it was him. How he managed to defeat Quirrell and the shade of You-Know-Who last year was just an inkling of how truly strong his aptitude for defense against the dark arts would become. These musings passed through her mind often when she thought of both Harry and young Hermione, the youngest and easily the brightest witch of her age. This young lady had Ministry of Magic written all over her if not minister itself.

The crowd passed into the hall and broke up amongst the house tables. Seeing that most of the students were sat Minerva returned to the entrance hall to await the first years. Hagrid must be lazily taking his time with the boats. The half-giant was so very attached to any bit of magic he was allowed to utilize that he spent ages on it. The upper year students had at first been downright rebellious when he had been appointed to the task of escorting the first years on the boats but over the twenty years, she only knew of a few children that would whine about the delay of dinner. The youngest Mr. Weasley was definitely one of these children.

Finally, Hagrid arrived with a clutch of little eleven-year-old witches and wizards. "All righ' Professor McGonagall," the half-giant began in his boisterous voice. "The firs' years all ready fer the sorting."

"Thank you Hagrid," she leveled a stern yet warm look at the groundskeeper. "Please go on ahead and join the staff table with the others." The massive man headed in with surprising haste, intent on getting a seat near professor Dumbledore no doubt. Turning on the first year students Minerva began directing them to the antechamber to await the sorting. "Don't be startled by the house ghosts, they often enjoy surprising the younger students," almost immediately the fours ghosts passed through a hall behind them in deep conversation.

"Peeves deserves a second chance my good man," a friendly, and silvery, looking monk debated with an equally silver man who seemed to be from the twelfth century.

"Yes, my dear friar, but Peeves has had many chances and he squanders them all with pranks. Oh, would you look at this, a new batch of first-year students," the apparition from the thirteenth century began, "I hope to see a good few of you sorted into my old house, fortune rewards the brave after all." With that the two passed through the wall on the opposite side from whence they came. While many of the children were stunned by this pair the rest were absolutely horrified by the second pair of ghosts that entered with the first two.

The first was a pale woman with deep silvery hair and dressed in the fashion of nearly a full millennia in the past. Marring her dress was a deeper silver stain that could only have been blood. The second was a man, sallow and dressed as if from the same era, and instead of having his robes simply marred with a small amount of silvery blood they were nearly coated in it. Neither ghost spoke a single word as they passed through the room, a healthy space between them.

Finally, Minerva got the word from Filius and began to usher the children into the great hall in a single file line. The sorting hat began its song and almost all the first years were gaping with disbelief at the talking piece of clothing. All the upper year students seemed to relish this surprise greatly.

* * *

Harry, Hermione, and Ron all grabbed seats that would give them a good view of both the sorting and head table. Up at the head table, the ancient warlock was trying his level best to get Harry's attention and meet his gaze. No doubt the old man wanted to use his passive form of legilimency on the young again Boy-Who-Lived for some reason or another. His experience after learning occlumency in his previous life's fifth year had taught him that both professors Snape and Dumbledore had been reading him since his very first year at Hogwarts. It was well worth the full month of thoroughly reinforcing his occlumency barriers at the Burrow. Hopefully, that bulking up would keep them both out of his head and keep them from obliviating him to the knowledge of a foolish first year.

The sorting hat sang a similar tune to the one from Harry's sorting. It was all about the founders, their traits, and how the hat had begun to be used. The hat had a full year of nothing to do yet it had sung the same song more than once. From what he had heard that never happened, though last time around he never witnessed this year's sorting. As Colin Creevey became a Gryffindor, Harry tried to subtly work his magic in the all too familiar way Merlin had trained him to for near impossible to track communication. Reaching out more with his mind than his magic, Harry impressed feelings of courage and loyalty into young Luna's mind. When the hat was placed on her head Harry felt his consciousness blur for a second. He could now see two different vantage points of the great hall. One was from his seat, and the other was from under the sorting hat. Immediately Harry felt two other presences from under the hat with him.

 _'Who dares attempt to interfere with the sorting of a young witch?'_ The presence was old, powerful, and furious at him for being in another person's mind. _'You should not be in miss Lovegood's mind mister Potter, nor should you have a mind that is nearly eighteen years old in the body of a twelve-year-old,'_ the sorting hat's mind was attempting to push him out.

 _'Harry?'_ Luna's mind was unlike Merlin or Joe's. Instead of a collection of feelings, emotions, and experiences, her mind was like a maelstrom. At the center of the storm, he felt an overwhelming loyalty, intelligence, and a focus that couldn't be shaken. _'How are you in my mind?'_ Questions whirled around her mind.

 _'This is going to come as a shock so please don't show your emotions to the rest of the students,'_ Harry began hearing mental harrumphs from both parties before continuing. _'At close to the age of eighteen I died fighting lord Voldemort, Tom Riddle to you oh wise sorting hat.'_ The hat seemed to hum at this while Luna just pondered how he was alive. _'After my death, I met the grim reaper, who prefers to be called Joe. He offered to send me back to this point in history after he and Merlin trained me to be what I should have been. The training felt like it took centuries but I learned so much that my power and skills dwarf Dumbledore's own power. I also know from my previous life that you were sorted into Ravenclaw and they all bullied you mercilessly until we met in my fifth year at Hogwarts. This is why I'm present in your mind, to change how you're sorted and to protect you from your bullies by being around you always.'_ As Harry finished he felt a fourth presence enter their mental discussion.

 _'Believe this young man Godric my friend,'_ Joe's cool voice began.

 _Godric?! As in the founder Godric Gryffindor?_ Harry had never thought of the hat as a person more than an enchanted artifact.

 _'You should also heed his words, miss Lovegood, with his power he could help you live a long, happy life.'_ Joe's presence was just as Harry remembered, overwhelmingly ancient and powerful. He was one of the oldest beings in the universe and instantly he knew that Luna would believe him without question from now on.

 _'Are you the grim reaper Harry was talking about?'_ Luna queried immediately. Wonder showing in her mind before even receiving an answer.

 _'Call me Joe, and yes I am the grim reaper. Older than almost all of creation and the one that taught young mister Potter how to wield a sword against any who would attempt to harm him or his friends.'_ At the mention of this Luna's mind practically radiated hope and longing.

 _'Yes, he means I'd raise hell if anyone tried to harm you now. You are my friend and there's nothing you can do about it.'_ If Luna's mind had radiated hope before at Harry's addition to Joe's statement she nearly burst from happiness.

Joe's presence battered the mind of the boy-who-lived. _'Let the adults talk now boy,'_ he visibly flinched across the great hall before returning his attention to the group of four minds together. _'I agree with mister Potter that this young one should be sorted into your old house Godric. She's plenty brave and steadfast. I'm unsure how she managed to end up in Rowena's house before.'_ Joe left off as if it were a question to the sorting hat.

 _'I am unable to say what it is that had her sorted into Ravenclaw before, master reaper. I sense a great intelligence in her and the determination to attain more and more knowledge. Since we've wasted far too much time you'll be seeing her in GRYFFINDOR!'_ The last word was shouted to the whole great hall as Harry returned to being of one mind.

Luna's face lit up from the second the hat was removed. She nearly sprinted over to the spot near the front of the now applauding table where Harry and his friends were seated.

"May I sit with you, Harry?" Luna's usual dreamy voice had a more pronounced note of care in it. Without waiting for a response the blonde squeezed in between Harry and Hermione. "That was the most terrifying thing I've ever gone through in my life. How did you all cope with that experience without a heart attack?"

A chuckle escaped Harry's lips. "There was the three-headed ruddy big dog the three of us nearly died getting past at the end of the last term." He began counting on his fingers, "Also a giant transfigured chess set and a flock of murderous flying keys. There was also the troll and the logic puzzle with potions that could have easily poisoned us," Harry finished with a smile at Luna's gaping mouth surprise.

"Did I make the worst possible choice in friends on the express?" Her smirk was all Harry needed to see to know she was joking.

"I don't know, Malfoy and his trolls wouldn't mind a new pureblood. Then again, where did all their pure blood get them with me?" The emerald eyes that met her blue were full of humor instead of the fury anyone else might have had.

"I think even with the danger I'd prefer being with you three," as young Ginny Weasley squeezed in across from Harry, "four I suppose now." The smile the blonde flashed at all four of them was so warm Harry swore he could feel the heat from it. After the young redhead had been sorted professor McGonagall had taken the hat and stool away. _Well, that's two changes for the better this time around._

The aged form of professor Dumbledore rose and approached the podium in front of the head table as the transfiguration mistress left. Harry felt the wizard's aura pulse slightly as he cast a wandless sonorus charm on himself. _Wandless magic, not the best I've seen but then again there's no telling if wandless battle magic has been practiced by anyone apart from me in centuries._ Albus began, "Good evening old friends and new faces. I'll be short with this year's announcements so we can get our feast underway. New students and a few older students," the headmaster's eyes darted to the Weasley twins briefly, "should know that the Forbidden Forest on the grounds is just that, forbidden. Many of you will notice that there is a new face among the staff. Gilderoy Lockhart has graciously accepted the offer to become the new professor of defense against the dark arts." At this utterance, the blonde wizard in royal blue robes rose and bowed for a moment before flashing a smile so white Harry could see its gleam from twenty feet away. "Now that the formalities are out of the way, I believe it's time we feast." Dumbledore waved his hand and food appeared on the gilded platters and bowls at all the house tables.

Then din of all the students serving themselves only grew louder as first it was the clatter of utensils on plates and platters but soon after it gave way to students swapping stories of their holiday time away from the castle. Luna asked mainly questions about Hermione living with muggles and about a band from America called Kiss. The bushy haired witch seemed to enjoy talking to their new friend about muggle entertainment and when Harry inquired about this band, as Luna and Hermione called it, he was met with promises of a magical recording the blonde had brought with her for entertainment. Not long after Harry finished his second helping of treacle tart all the remaining food vanished and Dumbledore stood once more. "Now that we're all fed and watered we should all get a good night's rest, lessons begin tomorrow."

The sound of scraping as the student body rose was briefly punctured by the sounds of prefects yelling, "First years, follow me to the dorms." Percy seemed to feed on the attention of the first years as Harry, Ron, and Hermione followed Ginny and Luna up to Gryffindor tower. Once they reached the common room the boys headed immediately for the dorms. As soon as Ron reached his bed he fell on it and began snoring. Chuckling at his friend's ability to fall into a sleeping state so completely in a mere moment Harry quickly changed into pajamas and got into his four poster bed, drawing the curtains closed. The other three boys entered the dorm room quite quickly and had no rush about them getting ready for bed. Soon Ron's snores were joined by Neville's, then Dean's, and finally Seamus'.

Now that all his friends had sunk into sleep Harry sat up and began to work on his occlumency exercises. Clearing his mind and organizing his most useful thoughts for defense and trapping would be invaders like Snape and Dumbledore. One particular memory would be perfect for the bearded headmaster. The memory itself was from when he was nine and his uncle Vernon had nearly killed him for getting better marks than Dudley had in school. If anything would make Dumbledore feel terrible for marooning him with his mother's family it would be that memory.

After completing the necessary occlumency upkeep, Harry began preparing to go to sleep. It was difficult as there were four snoring Gryffindors but after about an hour of trying he managed to drift off into the realm of sleep.


	2. Chapter 2: The Room and Requirements

**Author's Note: Hey folks, I am in the process of figuring out how to normalize the amount of time between postings so bear with me. At my current rate, and as this is my first fan fiction, I've got no clue whatsoever on my turnaround time. Just wanted to say thank you to the people that are following my little tale and I hope you enjoy seeing it unfold.**

 **I own nothing save for a small plot of land and a vehicle, all intellectual property belongs to J.K. Rowling**

 _Chapter Two: The Room and Requirements_

Harry woke to the sound of his dorm mates snoring heavily, Ron in particular sounding as though he was sawing logs. He casually cast tempus after reaching for the holly and phoenix feather wand that had served him so well. It was roughly half past six in the morning, as good a time as any to begin strengthening his young body anew. Rummaging through his trunk and donning a simple T-shirt, pair of jogging pants, and trainers before heading down to the common room.

The common room was completely silent, the only thing stirring aside from Harry was the rat. Peter Pettigrew, the betrayer of his family and friends, was nibbling on discarded pieces of chocolate frogs in his animagus form. _Maybe I should look into the animagus transformation as well. Oh I hope I can become a predatory animal so the rat will be easily tracked._ Pushing revenge from his thoughts, Harry left through the portrait hole and looked for the terrible tapestry that marked the entrance to the room of requirement.

Pacing back and forth he thought, _I need a place to strengthen by body._ The door that formed on his third pass could pass for the door to any other classroom throughout the castle. Opening the door revealed what looked to be an indoor track with a furnished weight room. _This is perfect!_ Setting out to establish his base level of fitness Harry ran for nearly an hour before using the very aged looking weights to test the strength of his upper body. He felt hours pass and finally his stomach ached so badly he drew his wand and cast tempus once more. The silver numbers indicated that it was thirteen past nine. Cursing Harry ran from the room of requirement and down to the great hall to catch the end of breakfast.

* * *

Eyes darted to him as he entered the hall in his damp muggle clothing. He took a seat at the very end of the Gryffindor table near the entrance to the great hall. Piling eggs, bacon, toast, and jam onto his plate and pulling a pitcher of milk to him Harry began to devour the food like he hadn't eaten in years. The staring eyes had bothered him his first go around but now they only made him wish to crush Tom in front of their judgmental gaze to prove he was too strong to be messed with. His body needed time to catch up now though, he had the magical power to crush most opponents, yet if it was down to him dodging or enduring an onslaught of spells he would fail for all his magical strength.

Luna and Neville deposited themselves on either side of him. The blonde turned to him immediately. "Harry, why are you drenched?" As he met her eyes he still saw gratitude and admiration in them, but curiosity had gotten the better of her.

"I decided to go for a run around the black lake this morning and lost track of time." He felt a pang of guilt deceiving her but he would correct it when they were alone. "How was your first night as a Gryffindor Luna?"

"It was very enjoyable. Ginny was quite defensive when I was asked about my ear rings." the smile that touched her lips was matched easily by Harry's. If Ginny was as much like Mrs. Weasley as he remembered, there was a first year girl that would be skittering around her for a week at least.

"She takes after the twins I think," Neville pondered. "Why were you asleep so early last night Harry? When we all got to the dorm Ron was out and you at least had your curtains drawn." There was honest curiosity in Neville's voice.

"I learned over the summer that if I clear my mind every night and before I perform magic that I'm more successful." He hoped the boy would take his hint to begin the first steps of occlumency training. "It leads to deep and nearly dreamless sleep."

"Oh, really? Maybe that's why my spells never work," Neville looked down into his lap when speaking of his failure at most spells. The young wizard would have much greater success with magic if he had the intent and a wand that matched him better. It had taken him until his fifth year at Hogwarts to find out that Neville wielded his father's old wand.

"You have trouble with your magic because you expect yourself to fail before you begin." Hermione had shown up at the end of the table with all the books she owned in her bag. "And I have your schedule here Harry. Professor McGonagall gave it to me when you didn't show up." She handed Harry his schedule, which he briefly looked over before returning his attention to his eggs.

As soon as Harry had finished with his toast and jam every crumb disappeared from every plate and platter. Now that the food had gone Ron sidled up to them holding his stained schedule, "looks like its double Herbology first, next we'll be having our first lesson with Lockhart, then Transfiguration with McGonagall." He crumpled his schedule and placed it in the pocket of his robes. "You should go get your school robes on, Mate. You can shower after herbology since we're usually filthy with all the plants we work on." Ron had a great point. Harry would be absolutely honking after dealing with the plants professor Sprout would doubtlessly show them.

"I'll need to grab my robes at least. You guys head on down to herbology," he jumped up and left the great hall at a jog. As he began to head up the stairs he noticed a certain Gryffindor was following him at a mild distance. Luna was no doubt trying to catch him alone to talk about his past life experiences so he slowed to allow her to follow him. Deciding to get this out of the way quickly he began to head up to the room of requirement on the seventh floor. Reaching the tapestry he began to think. _I need a room with a time turner_. On his third pass a heavy iron door appeared in the stone wall.

"Where did that door come from?" Luna had given up trying to remain unseen now that she clearly saw a door appear from nowhere.

"Come on in Luna, no one will bother us in here and you'll be on time for your first class." He pulled the door open for the young blonde and she timidly passed through it. Her gasp could be heard before he entered the room. It was a simple study but where there would be books there were shelves upon shelves of time turners, all the same size as the one Hermione would be using next year. "Now what would you like to talk about miss Lovegood?" his voice jarred the young girl from her state of awe.

"I want to know about the future of course," her eyes were dreamy as he had always remembered them, blue with just a hint of grey that rarely betrayed emotion.

Taking one of the seats at the desk he sighed, "anything specific or do you want to hear the whole tale? It is quite long." She seemed to be considering how much to ask him. _Please, please, please stick to this year or general info about us_. He drew his wand idly, "Limiter seal to nineteen percent." As his magic grew to the newly allowable size he heard Luna squeak and freeze. "What's wrong?" Harry flexed his power before containing it within his body, allowing Luna the ability to once again speak.

"What was that just now? Does this room have a magical aura of its own?" The blonde Gryffindor was flushing and looked about ready to faint.

"I adjusted my magic power limiting seal from one percent to nineteen." He blushed a little, knowing that even at his current level he was a match for any hit wizard. "Joe gave me these limiting shackles before sending me back." He raised his hands, showing the silver cuffs that kept his power at bay. "I can't release anything over nineteen percent until I'm done with my training and ready to be at full power."

"Your power is overwhelming. It's like I'm being smothered by a thick blanket." Then her composure finally returned, "I want to know about me in your past life. When did we meet, why did you trust me so much to tell me about Joe and the travel back in time, and why do you care so much about me to stop the bullying that happened last time?" Her breathing grew ragged near the end of her questions. She looked at his emerald eyes, begging silently for the truth.

 _Oh this is going to end either well or horribly_. "Well, I didn't meet you until my fifth year, your fourth, and we met on the carriage ride up to the school. You were the only one who believed me about them being pulled by thestrals, though I didn't know what they were at the time." There was a brief look of wonder from Luna when he mentioned the thestrals. _Oh yeah they're a rare breed considered dark by most_. "We had a few casual run ins until Hermione and Ron convinced me to start a club to teach practical Defense Against the Dark Arts because the professor that year only had us copy from a ministry approved book that taught us to recognize threats and run away instead of defending ourselves." His words radiated rage at the mention of Umbridge even by staff title alone. "You never missed a single meeting of the club. Shortly before Christmas holidays you and I began to share tales about our past after the meetings. We had similarly painful events in our past." Harry's voice quivered as thinking back brought all the old emotions back to him. He took a deep breath and gathered his strength, "I told you about how my Aunt and Uncle abused me for the littlest things and nearly killed me for my bouts of accidental magic. You told me about your wonderful, loving mother and how her runic experiment left you a child to a single parent. We bonded over our pain and forged a friendship so strong that you never questioned me afterword, even when I convinced you, Ron, Hermione, Neville, and Ginny to come with me to the department of mysteries to rescue my godfather. Tom Riddle, The one everyone calls You-Know-Who, implanted a false memory into my mind to lure me to the hall of prophecies. My godfather died protecting us from the death eaters that were waiting there. You shared in my deepest moment of pain and still stood by me." He wiped the tears he was shedding recalling Sirius as he fell through the veil. "That is why I trust you with knowing about Joe and the time travel, about anything really. As for why I stepped in to keep you from being bullied, you dealt with so much pain that I want to stop every bit that I can this time around. I want you to be happy in this life and I will stop at nothing to help you." He looked away from his friend, embarrassed by the sudden revelation.

Luna practically launched herself at him and wrapped him in a bone breaking hug. "I haven't done any of those things yet! Why do I deserve your trust and protection for things I haven't even done?" Her voice was shaking, she was unmistakably crying into his shoulder.

Harry held his old friend turned new, matching the strength of her embrace. "I know you're one of the strongest people I could ever hope to count as a friend. You'd follow me to hell and back if I asked. This time I may ask, but I'm far from the weak boy I was when I first asked for you to follow me." He flexed his magical power around them, the desk creaking under the weight of it. He lifted her face in his hands, staring deep into her blue eyes. "This time I could crush Riddle with pure magic, but I must train to be as powerful physically as I am magically. The one drawback my younger body has is that it's stunted. I'll be owling a potions emporium about a course to set my body as it should have been without the abuse and malnutrition." He let her go, walking around the desk and grabbing a time turner from the shelf. Casting tempus to see exactly how far back he'd need to take them, Harry studied the numbers then wrapped the time turner's necklace over his and Luna's necks before turning it back two hours.

As the hours passed Luna managed to scramble out a general "What?" only to see Harry cast a second tempus charm and realize that he'd traveled back in time with her. Words failed the little Lovegood.

"Alright, we've got about ten minutes before we show back up. I suggest you get to class, it wouldn't be wise to miss the very first lesson of your school career." After setting his limiting seal back to one percent Harry was all smiles, knowing that at least one person knew the truth. He would tell Ron, Hermione, Neville, and Ginny when they were ready. _Oh god, I need to make sure she has a grasp of occlumency!_ "Luna, do you know what occlumency is?" Haste and necessity had brought this thought to the fore.

The blonde cocked her head at an odd angle and smiled the same dreamy smile she had all the times before. "Of course I do, after mother I had to speak with a mind healer from St. Mungo's and he taught me occlumency." _I'm safe!_

"Do you maintain the proper meditation to keep it strong?" Harry would need to learn the art of legilimency to test his friend's resolve one day soon. The blonde just nodded in affirmation before turning and walking off at her leisurely pace.

"Don't forget to go change into your school uniform, I doubt sweats are desirable for anything other than your workout." With a light laugh she rounded the corner and descended the stairs.

Harry bolted to the Gryffindor common room and up to his dorm, changing as quickly as possible and grabbing his bag. He tore from the common room and down the castle. When he reached the entrance hall he cast tempus one last time and swore hotly, even with the use of a time turner he'd have to be late or his friends would notice something strange about it. Taking the long way around the greenhouses, the boy-who-lived could hear professor Sprout's voice on his approach.

Finally arriving, panting and slightly damp from the exertion, the kindly herbology professor noticed him and looked well put out. "Five points from Gryffindor for being tardy to my class mister Potter. Come on then second years, today we're going to be working in greenhouse three." Up until this point in time they had only worked in greenhouse one. Today was going to be the repotting of juvenile mandrakes. _Oh I can beat Hermione to the punch with the knowledge I retain and gain back my points_. _This year will be absolutely amazing!_

* * *

The headmaster's office was all but destroyed, only the desk with the monitoring devices and the chair the sullen warlock sat in had escaped the fury of the leader of the light. Harry's magical potency was slightly greater than it had been before the summer break, but his power was refined in a way that was greater than his own. _How had that malnourished child had the time to refine his magic so greatly!_ Albus could dull his own sense of pain with his magic and cause a curse or two to veer from their intended course, but with refinement like that the Potter boy would be impervious to most physical attacks and even many magical ones. He wouldn't even have a chance at using his passive legilimency on him if he knew anything about occlumency.

 _That's it!_ I will have madam Pince remove all books relating to occlumency from the library and protect the knowledge using the headmaster's personal library. Grinning at his ingenious idea he called out, "Blinky!" With a loud crack a miniscule house elf appeared in front of his desk.

"Master Dumbly door is be needing something?" The elf's voice was a high squeak, indicating that she was a female though being clad in a flour sack with a simple large H stamped on it hid most identifying features. The only way to tell whether a house elf was male or female without taking a peek was their voice, the high squeak meant female and the lower squeak usually indicated male.

"Yes, please go and fetch Madam Pince and bring her to my office. I need to speak with her immediately." With another crack the elf was gone and Albus could contemplate how to weaken the boy for Tom. If the mental arts were not an avenue he could take he'd have to resort to using other means to wound the boy. A one armed wizard that hadn't finished school yet would surely fall to Lord Voldemort. Perhaps it was time to call in his favor with mister Pettigrew.

* * *

Lockhart's failure of a first lesson proved to repeat itself. The only difference in this instance was that Harry silently locked the cage of pixies with an overpowered colloportus. When he couldn't open the cage, even with his weak attempt at an unlocking spell, he gave up and had the students copy chapters from his books. Leaving the classroom Ron still had the thought that Lockhart was a fool and Hermione defended him, stating that if he was a teacher he must be quite knowledgeable. Harry had a nearly impossible time containing his amusement.

At lunch Luna regaled him of her first charms and transfiguration lessons, Ginny grinning the whole time and mentioning that Luna had the most success in their task of turning a matchstick into a needle. Harry remembered well that the blonde's strong suit was the more intent based magic of transfiguration, much like himself. If there were anyone aside from Riddle and Dumbledore he'd never wish to contend against in transfiguration it would be Luna in a few years when she really came into her magical power.

The young blonde had taken to making food structures and people before wiping them out like only a natural disaster could. Humorous as it was to watch Luna act as a hurricane and devour sausage sheep and people, she made almost as much of a mess as Ron did when he ate. After having bore witness to her unusual consumption method, the red haired wizard gave her as wide a berth as possible while remaining with his friends.

Lunch ended and Luna headed for potions, pulling Ginny with her as the second year Gryffindors headed to their head of house's classroom. Professor McGonagall was waiting for them once again in her cat animagus form. The telltale spectacle markings around the cat's eyes and its unusually stiff manner of sitting and moving gave away that this was no normal animal. Once the whole class had arrived and the bell rang, the cat jumped from her desk and shifted back into the form of the severe transfiguration mistress. Everyone with the exception of Harry gasped at the sudden appearance of their teacher.

"Good afternoon. To begin your second year of transfiguration we will review the most difficult bit of magic from last year's lessons, the flintifors spell to change a rat into a matchbox." She waved her wand and a large box appeared at her desk. "Break into pairs and work on transfiguring the rat into a matchbox and back to a rat." There was a scramble as they paired up, Neville pairing with Ron and Harry with Hermione. The professor passed a rat out to each pair and they hastily began. _Hermione is going to be the second to get this spell right today_. As they received their rat Hermione prepared to cast her spell. Harry held up his hand before she could cant her spell.

"May I go first Hermione? I think I may surprise you." Harry tried to look as meek as possible. _You'll be so surprised you'll lay a basilisk egg_. He smiled inwardly at the thought.

The bushy brunette looked slightly taken aback. "Of course Harry." She eyed him as he prepared to work his magic. Had he begun to take his studies seriously?

Drawing the holly wand from his robes Harry spoke, barely at a whisper. "Flintifors." He overpowered the spell and drove it to meet his intent. The rat squeaked as it ceased to be a living creature and became a handsome walnut matchbox with a carving of fire on top. There was a sharp intake of breath next to him.

"Harry James Potter, when did you learn to do that?" Hermione was so loud that she drew the attention of the strict professor.

"Miss Granger what is the issue," before the Scottish teacher could finish her question she spied the box Harry had transfigured. "Which of you did this?" Her voice was harsh yet the look on her face was inscrutable.

"H-harry did professor." Hermione squeaked. Her awe at his skill was marked with a slightest tinge of jealousy.

"Fifteen points to Gryffindor for going above and beyond the set assignment with a master level transfiguration." Professor McGonagall gave Harry a rare smile and showed the impressive transfiguration off to the remainder of the class. "Few students of your age have this level of skill mister Potter. You have eclipsed your father's skill at your age. Continue to study and improve as you have and in no time you'll be a rival of my own or even Professor Dumbledore."

Harry could practically feel the professors approval of his skills. After the affectionate comment about his skills Hermione eyed him with envy for the remainder of the period. McGonagall dismissed the class after having him come to the front to replicate his transfiguration and explain that intent could drive a regular result to be exotic in this magical field. As they left Hermione nearly avoided him, making no effort to speak about the class or about his new found capacity for transfiguration. _Honestly, she's going to be mad that I'm more skilled in transfiguration than her. I'm technically six years older than her and with the training from Joe and Merlin I am nearly a century older_.

* * *

As her last class of the day left Minerva promptly strode to her desk. She placed the matchbox Harry had transfigured next to a rat and focusing her intent she silently transfigured the pest into an imperfect replica of the one next to it. The carving on top of the box was poorly done yet recognizable as fire all the same. _That boy is James reborn with Lily's will and drive_. If ever there were a child Minerva saw as her own it would be Harry. He embodied the bravery of her house and was clearly taking at least her subject seriously this year.

If Harry could surpass her before he faced off against He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named then Harry would surely be able to stand a chance. The monster that called himself lord Voldemort would fall and the Potter family would flourish once more to usher in a new age for magical Britain. Hopefully he would surpass her soon and Albus could train him the art of transfiguration in a way applicable to dueling. Minerva had preferred to use the basic transfigured shields and very few useful offensive abilities her subject allowed. Binding and common projectiles would be wasteful in combat against that monstrosity.

Perhaps she would ask mister Potter to come to her for extra lessons on the basics of defensive and offensive transfiguration. Wishing to test her skills she proceeded to erect stone and marble barriers that would give way only under the threat of powerful spells or other forces. Satisfied with her skills she replaced her wand and began to head down to dinner, hoping to catch her favorite half giant.

* * *

After an uneventful dinner Harry and his fellow Gryffindors returned to the common room in the tower. Harry feigned exhaustion and went to the second year's dorms. Making sure he wasn't followed and that none of his mates were there he quickly closed his bed's curtains and warded them to keep them shut. He then disillusioned himself and cast silencing charms on himself to make sure he was as difficult to track as possible. He slowly descended the steps that led down to the common room and out into the seventh floor corridor. After clearing the common room he jogged lightly to the tapestry that marked the room of requirement's entrance. Would the room respond if I'm invisible and silent? He began pacing and thought to himself over and over again, _I need a place to master the sword_. As he finished his third pass by the tapestry a heavy wooden door with metal banding appeared. _This doesn't seem ominous at all_. Pulling roughly on the metal ring that served as a handle the door gave way. The boy-who-lived gasped in disbelief, for before him was an armory quite similar to one you'd find in any castle back during the crusades. Cold stone walls were adorned with every type of blade Harry could imagine. Broadswords, short swords, long swords, bastard swords, cutlasses, rapiers, and even daggers were present in this room. The greatest surprise was in the middle of the room though. Standing in the middle of the room was a manikin that bore a likeness to him.

"Seasons don't fear the reaper," Joe was there. Not a presence as he had been last night but standing there in his suit of deepest black with a smile that spoke only of impending torment. "Before we continue your training mister Potter you must overcome yourself. This manikin is every bit as powerful and skilled magically as you are, if not a tad stronger. " The reaper tossed a cutlass at him, "let's see just how skilled this body is." Without a word the manikin launched towards him, drawing a cutlass identical to the one Harry wielded. The arc of his evil twin's slash was beautiful and met his own blade nearly half a foot from his left shoulder. Harry decided it would be prudent to take this fight seriously. Blocking left the manikin an opportunity to overpower his defenses, but dodging provided an avenue for his wandless battle magic. Before he cast a spell he recalled that Joe hated it when he used magic as a crutch in battle. He wouldn't lean on magic unless it was absolutely necessary. The second strike from the manikin was a horizontal slash that caught Harry's side. He winced from the pain but noticed a distinct lack of wetness and blood where the cutlass had wounded him.

"Oh all the blades in this room are for training which means they cause the amount of pain a normal blade would but none of the actual flesh or tendon rending." The reaper called as a throne of bones erected itself beside him. He took a seat and called out, "since this is the first time in a while that I'll get to watch you practice I will allow your battle magic. Only the augmenting magic though not the wandless spells." His constraints were set and Harry begun swinging his cutlass with the surgical precision Joe had driven into him.

It was time to try out something new as he expanded his magical aura to cover his cutlass and then focused it. This augmentation should make the blade much more sharp and hard. The evil twin must not have known what he was up to, when Harry's blade arced towards the twin from left hip to right shoulder he didn't even try to avoid it. Bracing himself, the twin tried to weather the blow as the magically hardened cutlass shattered its twin before separating the manikin like a hot knife through butter.

"Magically augmenting your weapon in the heat of battle is not wise until you can do without it in this training room. Only augment your body with magic, not your weapon boy. Your battle magic would be better put to use in a duel today," Joe scoffed at his so called battle magic because it cheapened the art of the sword. "None of the items this room conjures will be able to leave here. Though if you wished to take young miss Lovegood to one of this room's forms she'd find it quite appealing, much like yourself if her mind is any indication." Joe had that torturer's smile again. _How can you read my mind without using Legilimency?_ The room shook with the reaper's laugh, "I am so very old that Legilimency is but a child's toy to me. The mind of any living creature within my domain is mine to read." With a wave the cutlass in Harry's hand melted and was replaced by two daggers from the wall. "Defeat your twin with those first then you'll move up to the short sword, then the rapier and so on until you are capable of crushing your twin with the bastard sword. Only after that will I return and teach you the proper way of wielding the scythe. That is when you'll be prepared for **Riddle**." The venom that Joe spoke with was reminiscent of the basilisk when he referred to Tom.

"So I have to continually defeat the dummy with increasingly wieldy weapons until I learn about your weapon?" Suddenly a thought occurred to Harry, "Is the scythe the first weapon ever?" This time the room blurred until there was a nearly barren patch of earth in front of him. Joe held out a crude item, it looked to be bones of an animal.

"My scythe was not the first weapon, no. The first was this," he held out the bone. "This is the jawbone of an ass. In the Christian faith Cain killed his brother Abel with this crude weapon. In truth this was used by a man, who's name matters so little I've forgotten it, to take another man's wife." He dropped the jawbone and his scythe appeared in all its glory, "this weapon was made from that forgotten man's bones and a healthy supply of silver. It was the very first magical weapon and it is as enduring as I am. Now I must go, train your body and mind." Without a single word Joe was gone, he seemed to ripple from existence.

 _He seems so lonely for an immortal being, though the closest thing to an immortal since the philosopher's stone was destroyed is Tom Riddle. He would be the worst eternal pal ever_. Harry returned the daggers to their place and altered the room to the track. He immediately broke into a run and didn't stop until his legs were shaking violently. _This is going to take longer than I'd hoped_.

* * *

It was fast approaching again, the day that he would have to look into those green eyes, her green eyes. Severus Snape spun around in his dungeon office, jars of his own rare potions ingredients stood on the ebony wood of his shelves and desk. I will not break in front of him this year. _I made it through one year of having to stare at Lily's eyes in the detestable form of the Potter boy, I will make it through the remaining six!_ He brought his wand's tip to his temple and extracted all his memories of the late Lily Evans and placed them in vials before hiding them in a secret compartment of his desk.

His deepest secret must be kept from those fools. Only Albus could be trusted as he was a fellow believer of doing what must be done for the greater good. Dozens of members from the fated Order of the Phoenix had needed to fall for the Dark Lord so Dumbledore had ensured they were those that would leave a gap in political power for him to seize once he could kill Voldemort once and for all. The only thing that didn't sit right with the slick haired potions master was that Harry had to die for this plan to succeed. The night Severus had seen the aftermath of the cottage in Godric's Hollow he wept for his dead love. In his sorrow he felt his false master's aura coming from young Harry Potter.

At once he sent word to Albus and the aged wizard appeared with his trademark soundless apparition. A thorough if speedy examination was performed on the year old boy and finally the grey bearded wizard turned and blasted even more of the wreckage around the house.

"How could Tom do such a thing to a child!" The leader of the light spat with venom.

"What has he done?" Severus began weakly. "He must have died else the dark lord would never have left the boy breathing." Snape was trying to talk himself into his one master being gone forever in front of his new master.

"A piece of Tom's soul is attached to the child," Severus spluttered and his wand tip glowed orange. "Harry is the first and only example of a living being made into a horcrux, or soul anchor. It would appear that he has been creating them for some time to truly flee from death." Albus lowered his eyes and began pacing around the ruined nursery.

"I will visit Lucius today and inform him of my plan to use you as a shield from the fallout of this. He would be most pleased as it would lighten the load on his political dealings to keep as many of us out of Azkaban as possible." When Severus finished his piece of news Albus had one of the looks that could only mean a stroke of genius for him.

"Severus, my friend, how do you suppose we should protect young mister Potter here?" When Snape made no move to speak the warlock continued, "You will like this plan more than anyone else but we cannot let Harry go to live with his godfather Sirius." At the mere mention of the Black scion's name Severus glowered with anger but after hearing the plan he could only smile. _Potter took my Lily and now I get to be party to taking Black's godson, how life does have its little rewards_.

The greasy haired potions master shook himself from his reminiscing and began preparing for his coming day where he would see the boy of prophecy, the model Gryffindor, the boy with Lily's eyes.

 **Welp, that's it for hopefully between a week and a fortnight unless my muse inspires me or I'm afflicted with fan fiction writer's block. Please leave constructive criticism, or any other kind of criticism or message you'd prefer to leave me, as I feed on both ire and awe alike.**


	3. Chapter 3: Chamber of Secrets Revisited

**Author's Note: First off thanks for your reviews, favorites, follows, and of course for reading the drivel I try to pass off as fiction. I did not expect to shoot from just over 1k views to 4k in just a few weeks. Its pretty overwhelming, so thanks again.**

 **§ means text inside is parsletongue §**

 **I own nothing of the Harry Potter franchise**

 **Just a strange mind and an urge to write**

 _Chapter Three: The Chamber of Secrets Revisited_

Three weeks passed with Harry pushing his body and skills past their former limits. In classes he decided to only show a marked improvement of his skills. It would be acceptable to show the improvements skill wise, but to show his growth in power would give Dumbledore or Snape reason to try delving into his mind. He kept his limiting seal set to a single percent of his power until it was time to train in the armory. True to his word, the-boy-who-lived strove to improve his mind as he worked tirelessly on his body. After most of his workouts he changed the room of requirement into a study dedicated to various topics he deemed crucial. Horcruxes, Rituals, and advanced defensive magic were but a few of the chosen fields.

Among the books Harry found temporary body, magical core, and reflex strengthening rituals. The components and processes seemed quite simple but the major drawback was that they were only temporary improvements. He would learn to use them, being considered dark would be worth the boost for his most dire situations. How could these be considered dark? There is absolutely no sacrifice of blood or anything but intermediate to advanced rune work and some of the rarer potion ingredients. The book on horcruxes was mainly about their creation and how to ward an object to be nearly unbreakable before depositing the soul fragment inside. It also mentioned that inanimate objects should be used as a horcrux because living beings weren't effected as powerfully by the enchantments for indestructibility. _Well, of course they wouldn't take to indestructibility well. At least Nagini could be crushed with a simple killing curse._ Only the last chapter spoke of how to reverse the effects of a horcrux. True remorse was required from the main soul for the fragments to return and become whole once more. The book warned that this method was so incredibly painful that of the five wizards and witches that had tried to become whole again four died from it. The survivor had written this tome about the darkest of magic. The book was nearly fruitless except for informing him of the containers being enchanted to near indestructibility.

This meant that not only could basilisk venom and fiendfyre destroy them, but any of the objects that were common would be vulnerable to disenchantment. Hufflepuff's cup, Slytherin's locket, and Ravenclaw's diadem would need one of the two powerful forces but Nagini could be disenchanted and killed normally, the same went for the diary. Halloween was drawing nearer and he would destroy the diary and diadem. Hopefully since Tom was without a living body he wouldn't notice his anchors being destroyed one by one.

Harry would mention a fever dream to Dumbledore when he undoubtedly called him to the headmaster's office. Maybe he would pursue the ring earlier and be out of the way much sooner than the last go around. Albus' longing to see his sister and his parents would be too powerful to resist the compulsion charm on the ring, just as he had last time. First thing was first though, he needed to attain the physical skill and strength necessary to kill the basilisk. Maybe he could put Snape into a situation that would get him killed by the Tom. Perhaps he could attempt to cast a compulsion on the greasy git so he would seek out the less than human Tom.

These thoughts had to take a back burner for now as it was nearing the hour that he first entered the room. He didn't care to meet his past self at all. Training was all he had in his spare time. It would be foolish to allow suspicions to arise this early, hell Tom has only been in Albania nursing his ego for a few months. This would require patience in no small measure, though he could always have some fun by silently cursing Malfoy or making Lockhart look even more foolish than he was.

Harry had spent most of the night in the library since it wasn't one of the evenings Oliver would be dragging the quidditch team onto the pitch. This meant he had Hermione observing him study for most of the four hours they were there. She did not like his new found drive to be the best in their classes. Even in potions Harry had managed a potion more potent than Hermione's or Draco's efforts. Once they had started back to the common room he made the excuse of leaving a book or his quill in the library and ran to the room where he could spend the next four hours training with use of the time turner.

Harry left the room of requirement and made for the Gryffindor common room as fast as possible. As he advanced closer to the Fat Lady's portrait he overheard the sounds of an argument.

"But the headmaster is very odd and you don't complain about him." The exasperated sound of a certain bushy haired brunette witch was all too familiar. Her adversary in this debate seemed to be none other than Ron.

"I don't try to be Dumbledore's bloody friend though! She's so strange for a first year. Loony would be the perfect word to describe her." The red haired boy had inadvertently recreated his loyal friend's deserved, yet horribly unkind, nickname. Rage filled Harry and he stalked into the corridor proper, if looks could kill Ron would be growing cold already.

The-boy-who-lived grabbed his first friend's robes by the collar and drew him up before seething, "do **not** call her Loony, Ron. She has lost more than you could imagine and she is still able to be happy. If being different helps her be that way then you will not shun her for it." The youngest male Weasley was dumbstruck. He could barely speak any kind of response to this.

"B-b-but Harry, she just goes on and on about these ridiculous creatures that no one has seen or heard of. It's not right," he was cut off when Harry's head collided with his own and the red head dropped to the ground.

"What did professor McGonagall tell us on our first day here Ron," without waiting for the foolish boy to answer he continued. "She told us that our House would be our family here. Luna has been our family since the sorting. I will not allow you to harm our family in any way. I thought you were better than this." Ron was well and truly speechless as Harry strode down the corridor.

The loud patter of Hermione's shoes followed him after a few seconds of hesitation. "Harry, why did you do that? It was right to defend Luna but you shouldn't have hit him. You know how bad he can get when he's angry." Harry scoffed at his friend's concerns. Yes Ron was terrible when it came to jealously and being humiliated, but Harry would not stand for anyone making fun of Luna or tormenting her. He could either realize that he was in the wrong or he could lose his friendship with Harry.

Arriving at the portrait of the Fat Lady he spat the new password, fortuna major, and with Hermione he entered the common room.

* * *

It hadn't taken much time to get all books related to the mind arts removed from the school library and even the restricted session. Pride had radiated from the ancient warlock once he had taken the tools to keep him out from mister Potter. Without training and skill in the art of occlumency all that was needed was eye contact and a topic of conversation that leaned towards his increase in his magic's refinement. Fawkes the phoenix trilled lightly as the headmaster's magical aura filled his office. The leader of the light retreated to his spacious sleeping quarters and began to practice his wandless magic. Very few wizards had taken to honing their skill to naturally mold magic without a focus. Albus had trouble doing much more than simple parlor trick type spells without his trusty wand. Even Tom, for all his strength and research into rare magics, was unable to utilize wandless magic for much more than throwing a few things about or summoning something of light weight. The dark lord required a wand for his most advanced and powerful displays of magic.

With his wand though Voldemort could match Albus Dumbledore blow for magical blow. Given enough time the serpentine wizard might even be better than him. Tom's magical aura was nearly of the same potency as his and its refinement was only slightly better than Albus' own. The last time the two had met in battle the only reason the leader of the light had survived was because he erected a very ancient type of shield magic that drew its power from the spells that clashed against it.

The magical refinement Harry Potter had shown had eclipsed Riddle's if he had not improved since his killing curse rebounded and destroyed his living body. The shade form Tom had been reduced to was a being of mostly magic from what Albus could analyze. If that improved his magical refinement he'd have to train the boy to kill Riddle and hope they would fall to each other's spells.

That brought another topic to the headmaster's mind. Minerva had brought young Harry's increase of skill to his attention. It is true that the subject of transfiguration and most magic in general is highly driven by intent, but the matchbox he had transfigured showed signs of a level of intent that is remarkable for a twelve year old. Clearly Harry had gained a great deal of focus as well as refining his magical aura. If this was what he was capable of within his first class back from the summer holidays the boy would eclipse Albus in power and intricacy of his witchcraft in a mere decade. A wizard of the age of 22 with that much skill and magical potency would be a true problem. If the war lasted that long Riddle truly would be immortal as his living horcrux would only die of old age.

That couldn't happen! He would need to get Harry alone, stun the boy, and then limit his power further than he had ten years ago. Perhaps Severus would like to aid in this endeavor, he was none too fond of Harry simply after watching the boy grow into an exact if not malnourished copy of James Potter. The bright green eyes the boy had inherited from Lily only seemed to bring out more rage in the man.

Hours of thinking and practice of his weakest skill later, the leader of the light slumped into his chair a defeated man. _Will I ever manage more than a weak summoning charm without my wand?_ The bespectacled old man drew his wand with a fluid motion and admired it. His little trophy from one of the most famous duels in history was nearly flawlessly shined and made to look as it were his original wand, a ten inch piece of maple with a dragon heart string core. If not for this wand he would still be a transfiguration professor and not a member of the wizengamot, much less the supreme mugwump. His dear friend Grindelwald had given him the most delightful of gifts after Albus cut his wand arm off. The wand he swore up and down to be the elder wand, the death stick, and a book all about the most versatile dark spell he'd need to use, compulsion charms. The headmaster leaned back in his chair and imagined what it would be like to be in charge of the ministry. Surely it would be more fun than hindering laws that would make his life tougher and keep possible guardians away from young Harry.

* * *

Harry and Hermione had been chatting with Luna for a few minutes when the portrait hole slammed open.

"You scar headed git! Why did you do that?" Ron was livid with his friend. "I was just saying she has no right to be in our house."

Harry merely turned from his conversation with Luna to the red head and said, "You grew up with so much family that you don't place the proper value on the bonds of our house." All eyes in the common room not on the youngest male Weasley snapped to the-boy-who-lived. "To someone like me the saying that your house is your family is absolutely true. I don't know about you but I would never try to kick someone out of my family based on how I felt about them, especially if I just thought them a little odd."

Ron exploded. "A little odd? She's completely bloody bonkers! She shouldn't be a member of Gryffindor or any other house that's not for nutters." He would be defiant to the end it seemed.

This time it was the young lady who was the topic of the argument spoke up. "I don't know why you feel so strongly about me Ronald. I have never bothered you since I was sorted into Gryffindor. I mostly speak to Harry, Hermione, and Ginny since you find me so strange." Her dreamy eyes had become somewhat fierce as she stared at the lanky boy.

Harry decided it was time to make an example of Ron. He focused on reaching out to Luna's mind and felt her presence practically embrace his. "Luna, you should challenge him to a duel. The stakes should be as such. If you win, Ron cannot speak of ousting you from our house ever again, nor can he call you Loony Lovegood. If he wins, which he wont, You will demand a resorting and go to a different house."

"But he's been here for a year longer than I have, he will beat me." Luna's presence seemed unsure of her skills.

Harry projected feelings of tranquility to his friend while he thought to her. "With my magic dampening his abilities he will have a hard time getting any curses or charms to fire from his secondhand wand. Just use the charms you learned before you came here my friend." At the mention of him using his own magic to destabilize Ron's spellcasting Luna perked up and he felt an emotion he couldn't quite place. He severed the mental contact with Luna as she spoke.

"If you're so concerned and wish to continue trying to convince our house to evict me then I challenge you to a duel." You could hear a pin drop up in the dorms the common room had gone so quiet. "If you win, I'll ask to be resorted. If I win, you will not try to have me ousted from Gryffindor or call me Loony Lovegood ever again. Sound fair?"

The silence in the common room was replaced by murmuring between all the students. Ron looked as though christmas had come early though.

"Done. When do we start?" The smile on Ron's face was foolishly expectant of winning. _I wonder how long he'll sulk after Luna wins,_ Harry thought to himself.

A tall burly boy stepped forward and cleared his throat, demanding the room's attention. "Excuse me, I'm Nathaniel Pince, As a seventh year I believe I should preside over the duel to ensure its outcome is fair." Nathaniel had a close crop of dark brown hair and the faintest shadow of a beard growing on his face. From what Harry remembered this young man was at the battle of Hogwarts where he had fallen to Tom. Steadfast and brave were the qualities of the house of Lions and Nathaniel was the epitome of these gifts. The two participants agreed to the seventh year's terms and immediately the common room's furniture was rearranged to allow room for the spectacle.

Once everything was set and Harry was near Ron's side of the dueling field Nathaniel looked to each of the participants and they nodded. He beamed and yelled out " _avis_ ," sounding a loud bang and conjuring a few birds to signal the start of the duel.

Ron yelled out " _Everte Statem!_ " while Harry focused his magical power and blanketed the second hand wand with it, causing Ron's throwing spell to fizzle out halfway on its journey to Luna.

None the less Luna side stepped the path that the spell would have taken to reach her and used a light pulling charm to drag a large lion tapestry from over the fireplace onto the red head. With a muffled "Bloody Hell!" Ron was covered by the tapestry and Luna finished him off with a sticking charm, binding him to the tapestry. "Do you give up Ron?" Luna called.

Only a muffled grunt could be heard from under the tapestry so she launched her own throwing spell and sent him flying into the wall. Only then did she sever the magic adhering the tapestry to the boy. As Ron struggled out of his former bindings Luna yelled " _Rictusempra!_ " and he was reduced to rolling on the floor laughing uncontrollably by the tickling jinx.

Finally he ground the words, "I...give...up" out between his tittering laughter. At once Luna ended the hex and turned to young mister Pince for his declaration of the winner. He walked to Luna and raised her off hand into the air and pronounced her victor in this contest of young magic wielders. Harry smiled broader than he ever had before. He didn't even need to dampen Ron's magic for Luna to win, she had a plan from the beginning.

Once he had risen, his face bright red, Ron Weasley stalked off to his dorm without a word as Luna rejoined Harry on the comfy couch and continued their earlier conversation. When Harry retired for the evening the curtains of his friend's four poster bed were drawn and the room was silent. Not wishing to disrupt the thoughts of the youngest male Weasley, he changed into his pajamas and drew his own curtains. After an hour of work on his occlumency and focusing his mind the-boy-who-lived passed into sleep.

* * *

The morning hours were pure agony for him. Since the day when the boy drove him from the stuttering fool of a follower he had felt more pain than he ever experienced in the his life. This nearly gaseous shade form was decent at acquiring information through the possession of rats and lesser snakes. Even when possessing a rat or snake he was in nearly constant pain. The dark lord had only been able to possess Quirrell after the fool submitted to his will and consumed unicorn blood. Any other grown wizard would be able to expel him.

 _I need to return to my physical body!_ Only after acquiring a new body would he be able to summon his death eaters and begin preparing to kill the Potter boy. His suffering will make this shade form's pain seem like heaven. _I must bide my time and regain this form's meager strength first_. After that he would begin to seek out a suitable follower and research the necromantic arts for a way to craft himself a new body. The pain was too great to do much more than grown in his wheezy manner as he drove his presence into a rat skittering around the albanian forest.

* * *

Ron had been thoroughly avoiding Harry, Luna, Hermione, and most of the other members of his house after the duel with the blonde first year. Harry had been able to log increasing amounts of time in the room of requirement because the bushy brunette was more concerned about Ron's feelings than his new found drive for academic excellence. Harry had begun to also focus on his magical dueling skills after seeing Luna's already impressive skills for a first year.

The room of requirement gladly created a manikin with his likeness and a wand of its own. The Automaton was slightly more powerful and skilled with magic just as his swordplay dummy was. The first dueling session with the manikin ended in a stalemate as it hit Harry with a cruciatus curse while he landed a bombardment spell which splintered his foe. Since then the room created a duo of manikins that accompanied his twin and drove him to more skillful use and control of his magic.

The third night after Ron's loss the-boy-who-lived was trading blows with two manikins wielding magically blunted cutlasses when he heard an unfamiliar voice.

"Well he wasn't wrong, you're a skilled swordsman, well more accurately a swordsboy." Harry flinched at the sound of the voice and then again when both cutlasses caught him at the ribs and shoulder. He turned to the origin of the voice, bringing the blade of his broadsword up in a defensive position during the movement. Before him stood a strange woman in jeans, a black tee shirt, and black combat boots. She was about a foot taller than Harry with an angular face and almond shaped brown eyes. Her hair was platinum blonde and fell straight down to her knees. The most outstanding feature of this woman was that she held a long sword aloft in her left hand, rune work was glowing gold along the flat of it and it gave off a strange gravity that seemed to pull him towards it. "Master said I could test your skill since he has other business to attend to today." She brought her rune sword up to mirror Harry's stance and raised her left brow, "shall we mister Potter?" She leaped into action without hearing his response and their blades clashed with great fervor.

"I still don't know who you are," he parried blow after blow from the woman he could only assume was a servant of the reaper. _Why would Joe need servants?_ Her skills were amazing but fell horribly short of Joe's mastery of the blade.

"You have to earn my name boy," a fierce grin played on her angled features as she continued to test his skill with the sword. She began making longer, undulating strokes with her blade that flowed into what Harry remembered Joe calling "the fool's sword dance." He began focusing his magic aura into his off hand and prepared to interrupt the dance. As the blonde spun in her maneuver Harry caught her left wrist with his off hand before striking her shin, thigh, side, left shoulder, and finished with a blow to her neck. The woman dropped to one knee, experiencing the pain the magically blunted sword brought without wounding her at all.

"I think this means I get to know your name," he grinned as he released her left wrist and stepped back. The woman straightened up before shooting him a furious look. Without warning her rune blade arced in his direction, cutting an angled line across Harry's chest. The wound seared brightly for an instant, giving the cruciatus curse a run for its money, before becoming a faint scar. "What the hell was that?!" The-boy-who-lived shook violently as he drew a hand across his new scar. The woman simply laughed as she waved her right hand, causing the rune blade to disappear in the same manner Joe always used.

"My name, mister Potter, is Anne and it would not do for a swordsman with your skill to not have a few scars from battle." At this she laughed a bit before continuing, "I am here today to serve my master's will, he has sent you an item and two pieces of news." She held an ancient, battered book out before him. The letters on the leather cover had faded from the passing of time, not even the spine held the whole title of the book. Only pieces of what could be a serpent was discernible on the cover.

"Joe is your master? Why does the grim reaper have servants?" The woman was a mystery he could get to the bottom of immediately. Anne's eyes narrowed and she scoffed at his questions.

"To you he is Joe, but to me and all of the other reapers he is the first and greatest of our kind. We call him Master because he is just that, he taught each and every one of us the way of the sword and how to reap souls at the time of their departure from the flesh." She stood tall and proud as she spoke of Joe. _Maybe he isn't as lonely as I thought_.

"What information does this book hold?" Harry opened the book and began flipping through it. For a battered and aged exterior the interior pages were remarkably well kept. It seemed to be a journal by Hadrian Peverell, son of Ignotus. It appeared to be a journal of the man's findings on the invisibility cloak as well as many other magical experiments over his lifetime.

"That is the grimoire of the Peverell family. Hadrian had begun writing it when he was but a boy under the tutelage of his father and every head of the Peverell family after him kept it safe, adding to it their discoveries and family magics past his time." She placed a hand on his shoulder, "Master says you are truly the heir of the Peverell family and rightful owner of this book. It should provide you even more useful ways to break the shackles the grey beard and snake face would put on you." A grin played across Harry's face and Anne the reaper wore a matching smirk. "Now Master's bits of news are as such, he says that the grey beard knows of your increase in magical skill and refinement-"

"Well yeah I've been making sure I apply myself heavily to my studies and show the death eater's children that I am more than just famous for surviving their masters attack." Fierce pride radiated from Harry as he spoke of his desire to be more than the-boy-who-lived. The reaper slapped him sharply in the face.

"No interrupting you little scrawny git!" He rubbed his cheek where her hand had struck him. "The old fool has noticed and he has removed books on occlumency from the school's library, even the restricted section, in hopes that when he has an excuse to bring you into his office he can attack you with legilimency and learn how you've grown more capable than most adult wizards. He fears that the snake face will be immortal through your strength and skill." The scowl on her face made it plain that any further interruptions may lead to another scar being etched into his body. "The second piece of news is that you are well and truly prepared to enter the chamber of secrets and deal with the basilisk. In fact, Master will be waiting for you inside the chamber to see that you do not die at its fangs. That is all and I am bored with you," without another word Anne the reaper rippled from existence, leaving Harry alone with his thoughts, a grimoire of his family, and two manikins wielding swords moving towards him.

 _Shit! These things just don't know when to quit._ Harry quickly focused his magic to shield him and blocked the incoming blades. _I need these training dummies to stop fighting me damn it!_ Finally the room acquiesced to him and the dummies faded from the armory room. Catching his breath, he began to read the first entry in the Peverell grimoire to calm his nerves. He would have to face the basilisk tonight, nearly two weeks earlier than he had planned.

* * *

An hour later the-boy-who-lived stood outside Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. He donned his trusty invisibility cloak before entering the bathroom to avoid anyone seeing him like Percy Weasley had in his original second year. As he entered there was absolutely no sound in the girl's lavatory. Harry quickly paced to the sink with the serpent engraved on the faucet, spitting a hasty _§ open. §_ The sink backed away, revealing the massive entrance to the fabled chamber of Slytherin. _I wonder_ , closing his eyes and picturing a snake he said _§ stairs, please §_ at once a set of dusty stairs began to form down the pipe. The Peverell heir descended the stairs to the chamber quickly, shouting _§ open! §_ as soon as the second door to the chamber was in sight.

The large circular door opened to reveal the chamber mostly as Harry remembered it. The pale green torches flared and the serpent statues lining the chamber were the same, even the massive statue of Salazar Slytherin with his monkey like face and his long beard was just as he remembered. The only difference in the chamber was that the tall skeletal figure of death stood in its center, staring at Harry with no small amount of interest.

"I see you've made it here. This place is a bit gloomy even for my standards. We should get started, mister Potter, if you will." Joe motioned towards the prominent statue in the chamber.

"Aw, no time to admire the chamber? Maybe even have a nice torch lit dinner down here, wait, do you even need to eat?" A smirk had grown to a wide grin by the time Harry had finished his line of questions for the first reaper.

"You realize I could kill you with almost no effort at all yes?" Joe sounded irritated but wore a slight grin on his features. _Maybe he likes talking to someone that doesn't call him master all the time_. "Just get on with the blasted parsletongue so we can kill this overgrown garden hose and be on our way." Impatience was clear in his voice while the grin remained.

Harry grimaced a bit trying to recall the words Riddle had used to summon the basilisk before. after a few minutes he approached the statue and said, _§ Speak to me, Slytherin, greatest of the Hogwarts four. §_ At his urging the mouth of Slytherin's likeness descended revealing a hole nearly two meters wide. Moments later the massive green scaled head with a scarlet plume appeared, but oddly the king of serpents' eyes were closed.

It descended to the floor and coiled up in a tight pile before hissing, _§ you do not taste like the last one who woke me. Is the blood obsessed fool of a boy dead? §_ Harry laughed at the way the serpent spoke of Riddle.

 _§ He is mostly dead, he split his soul and anchored pieces of it to gain a weak form of immortality. Why do you not open your eyes, oh mighty serpent? §_ His curiosity was far too great concerning the closed eyes of the beast when the last time he'd seen it summoned it emerged eyes open, ready to kill all that made eye contact with it. The snake gave a hissing laugh at his question.

 _§ I have not opened my eyes because there is a guest in the chamber. He has not spoken yet so I assume he is not gifted with master Salazar's language. If that is true he would die meeting my gaze, where you would not. §_ The basilisk slithered forward bringing its head to a rest in front of Joe. It's tongue tasted the air in front of him and, unless Harry was mistaken, he saw the creature shiver.

"Yes, my little serpent king, I am something you are incapable of killing with your gaze or your mighty venom." A calm grin crossed the reaper's face as the basilisk drew its head back into the safety of Harry's general direction.

 _§ What are you? §_ The massive serpent hissed nervously. Joe merely laughed at the snake's edgy question.

 **Yeah that's where I'm ending it for this chapter. After dealing with various things in life I realize it takes a bit of time to crank these suckers out. So when and if you leave a review let me know if you guy and gals would prefer I keep the chapters as they are, around 5k words each or would you all prefer the longer chapters with a bit of an added wait? Please review and let me know if you like it or not**


	4. Chapter 4: The First Test

**Howdy folks, consider chapter four of Death's Power my belated xmas gift to you guys and gals. Sorry about the long lead time on this chapter but...well...fallout IV is a hell of a drug.**

 _ **§ Parseltongue §**_

 _ **thoughts and telepathic communication in italics**_

 **I do not own Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling does**

 _Chapter Four: The First Test_

The Halloween feast was truly wonderful this time around, though anything was preferable to Nearly Headless Nick's five hundredth death day party. Jack o' lanterns had replaced the floating candles high up in the great hall and the enchanted ceiling was mirroring the stormy night outside. Hermione had taken to eating with a large book propped up in front of her while Harry and Luna conversed over their classes and how well they were doing in them.

"Professor Snape really hates all of us doesn't he?" The blonde inquired. "He took points off of Ginny and I for talking while we worked." She released a frustrated sigh before attacking her pumpkin pie.

Harry laughed, "you should see how many points he takes off of me these days for 'show boating' and 'sabotaging Malfoy's potions'. Honestly I think he takes points from me because I look a lot like my father." Harry reached for a piece of pie before Luna ate the whole thing herself. She was nowhere near as messy as Ron but she still consumed more than twice the amount Harry or Hermione did.

Hermione looked up from her reading at Harry. "Why would the professor hate you for looking like your father?" In the weeks since the duel the brightest witch of her age had regained her interest in Harry and his new drive to be recognized. "Did he even know your dad and mum?"

"Yes Snape knew my father and mother. He grew up knowing my mom and absolutely hated my dad." The-boy-who-lived fiddled a little with some shepherd's pie on his plate before continuing. "They were in the same year here and Snape hated my father for courting my mother. I'm pretty sure he hates me solely because I'm proof of their love." At the mention of his parent's his mind was bombarded by Luna's thoughts. She had taken to the nonverbal communication very quickly once she had forced him to teach her.

 _"How long did it take you to learn that information last time?"_ Her presence was full of curiosity.

 _"I knew he and my father hated one another from the end of my first year."_ Harry mulled briefly over the memory of Dumbledore telling him how Snape hated James for saving him from the furry little problem of another member of James' friends. _"To learn he was in love with my mother and that he knew her before Hogwarts it took until mere minutes before my own death."_ Luna's mind darkened at the mention of his death. Her presence left him without another thought.

Hermione seemed satisfied by Harry's answers and delved back into her book as he sighed. There were few things in life Harry wanted more than to tell Hermione about his encounter with Joe and being sent back with all the knowledge of his previous life. Maybe then she would stop studying nearly the entire time she was awake. _No, she needs to learn occlumency first. Then you can tell her all about her older self._ At this moment he looked up to the staff table and made eye contact with Snape. The wandless legilimency the greasy haired potions master used groped at his occlumency shields. Seeing as it was the very intrusion he was waiting for, Harry brought the memory he had saved just for Snape to the fore of his mind.

* * *

The boy had made eye contact with him for the first time since term had started. _Now it's time to see exactly how he's been doing so well in my classes._ Severus focused his magic to use his wandless legilimency on the-brat-who-lived. He hit a wall of occlumency shields within the mind of Harry Potter. Undeterred, Snape began to batter at the shields in hopes of breaking through them when it happened. He was pulled inside the barriers by the Potter brat.

 _The nursery in Godric's Hollow took form around him. Before the potion master stood the love of his life, Lily Evans. She was playing with the little brat until she heard the sound of the front door blasted apart. "Lily, make sure Harry is safe! I will handle the snake faced bastard." The vile spawn of Charles Potter and Dorea Black yelled from downstairs. "Your time is at an end Voldemort!" A high pitched laugh preceded the incantation for the killing curse. "JAMES! NO!" Lily screamed as she scooped up the Potter spawn. His love slammed the nursery door shut and ran to the crib with her child. Moments later the door was blown to pieces and there stood Voldemort. His serpentine features were just as Snape remembered them. "Hand over the boy and you will live, it has been arranged." His lord had intended to honor the request of his lowly death eater and spare Lily. "No, take me. Not my son." Lily was frantic, with tears running down her face. Her wand lay forgotten in the crib with the boy. "If you will not stand aside you will die. Avada Kedavra!" the beam of sickly green light struck her and she was no more. The Dark Lord walked over to the crib and cast the killing curse for the third time that night, only this time it rebounded and struck the dark lord himself. The memory faded into a black abyss where the mental representation of Severus's mind remained. Then the brat appeared as he was now, not as the infant from the memory, before the half blood prince._

 _"You are not welcome here Professor." The Potter brat looked furious and Severus scoffed, as if the boy could scare me when Voldemort and Dumbledore were around. The child continued, "this is the dream that has haunted me my whole life Snape. Unless you wish to be trapped within this memory indefinitely you will never enter my mind again."_

Severus was released from the memory, panting from the sorrow it brought on as well as the amount of magical power he expended trying to escape the brat's mind.

"Severus are you feeling alright?" The leader of the light had noticed Snape's sudden loss of magic and strained state.

"Need to rest, bad reaction to a potion I am brewing for research." He avoided the man's gaze as he did not have the concentration or the magical power to fend off legilimency of Albus' caliber right now. He rose from his seat and stalked out of the great hall, heading for his dungeon office. _Damn that Potter brat!_ He wouldn't even glance towards the table that housed the child with mental skills equal to his own.

* * *

Harry himself was feeling slightly strained after holding the accomplished legilimens in his mind for so long. _It would have been easier to hex the greasy git._ Realizing he'd need a little bit of rest before his training he rose from the table. "I think I'm going to turn in early tonight guys. Goodnight Hermione, Luna." After a quick acknowledgement from Hermione and a quicker mental conversation with Luna he headed towards the second floor bathroom. On the way he mused at the last time he visited the ancient chamber.

* * *

 _§ What are you? §_ The king of serpents hissed.

The skeletal figure of the grim reaper shook with laughter. "I am most certainly not the walrus. You may refer to me as Joe my little snake king." The reaper snapped his fingers and the sickly green torches flared a brilliant white. The basilisk coiled up tightly.

 _§ What are you doing? §_ The vast creature was balled up so tightly its red plume was barely visible.

"I'd like to know that as well," the Peverell heir shielded his eyes as he spoke. This had to be magic but no matter how hard he tried it was impossible to feel any magic from the ancient reaper. "Is that magic or is it something reapery that you're doing?"

Joe laughed once again. "The oldest forms of magic are the most interesting to me. Read your family grimoire and you'll learn a bit of it." The reaper turned back to the basilisk, "this spell was to confirm my suspicions. You are indeed a much heartier basilisk than the usual sort. Also over twelve hundred years old. If I'm not mistaken you've been modified via some potion of Salazar's design to have a human form as well, Yes?" Joe had a sort of strained smile on his face as he waited for the serpent's response.

Without a hiss the basilisk slowly uncoiled and began to grow smaller, taking on a human shape. As the last scales turned to flesh Harry saw that the basilisk was indeed a male with serpentine features. Obsidian hair hung to the king of serpents' knees and lithe muscle covered his body. An angular jaw and bright yellow eyes were his most dominant features. Hastily the serpent in human form trudged back to the statue of Slytherin, disappearing into the mouth of the stone likeness. Minutes later the snakeman returned clad in armor hewn from a hide that looked remarkably like his own. Hung all around the waistband of his armor were a plethora of daggers made of what looked to be bone.

Harry, by instinct, began to focus his magic throughout his body upon seeing the weapons. Joe simply laughed at the basilisk for no discernible reason. "I wonder, my little snake king, does that armor count as your birthday suit since the hide is your own?" A burst of laughter escaped the Peverell heir and the basilisk's human form wore a scowl of pure loathing.

 _§ Master Slytherin gave me a human form, but with this form came the weaknesses of your kind. So Master created this armor from my own hide long ago. §_ The serpent man drew a dagger with each hand and began to manipulate them in a show of inhuman dexterity.

Harry had had enough. He turned to Joe with a quizzical look accompanied by thought. _Do you still want him dead by my hands, **Master** Joe?_ The-boy-who-lived couldn't contain his amusement any longer and broke into a wide grin.

Joe stepped in closer to the basilisk and with a wave of his hand he was armed with a simple blade. "Would you like to test your skills my little snake?" The glint in the skeletal reaper's eye was serious as death. Harry had only witnessed this look on the day his training with Joe had ended. Without waiting for an answer the sallow immortal struck. Slytherin's great beast countered by rolling away from the reaper's strike, he then let fly a dagger which pierced his opponent's left shoulder.

 _§ Turn your prey's strength into a liability, §_ the snake man hissed as he flung two more daggers at Joe, the blades landing deep in the reaper's legs. _§ Master wished for me to be a protector from the shadows, not some knight in shining armor. §_ As Joe hesitated and straightened up the serpent dove towards him, a dagger in each hand. _§ You will know the meaning of defeat today, Dark One! §_ In a flash it was over. The reaper stood tall, the throwing weapons that had pierced him clattered to the floor to meet their owner who sported a massive slashing wound from his left shoulder to his right hip. Dark blood formed a puddle underneath him as he spoke in a hushed tone. _§ H-how did you do that? If you had cut any deeper I would be knocking on death's door. §_ The serpent's breathe was short and ragged. Joe laughed as the sword vanished with a wave of his hand.

"You are a capable assassin, my little snake king, but I am far older and faster than any living being." He crouched down beside his fallen opponent and placed a hand on his right shoulder. "Young mister Potter will require the teachings of a master assassin if he's to survive the coming war. I believe you are the perfect fit. No living being and very few of my servants could have defeated you so easily, strengthen my little mortal champion here as best as you can." With that Joe patted the human form's cheek and stood up straight, locking eyes with Harry.

"So instead of killing him, this time I get to learn from him? Sounds like a chamber of fun." The Peverell heir was masking his fear with humor as he was known to do. _Holy shit! I only saw a flash of light when he slashed the basilisk. I will never be his equal._ The worry was visible even through his humor.

"I did not know he was an altered basilisk. I honestly thought he was a run of the mill brainless snake," the snake in question coughed and spluttered in outrage. "Forgive me my little serpent, you have proven to be a much more useful resource than I had ever thought." He snapped his fingers and there was another flash of bright light, normalizing the ragged breathing of the basilisk. He shakily began to rise to his feet. "Take it easy, snake, I healed your wound but the shock of being stricken by the reaper could still kill you. I will leave you two to speak of your...amended training now. Goodbye mister Potter, master basilisk." Joe faded into thin air as he always did, leaving Harry and the basilisk alone in the chamber of secrets.

 _§ He is a true monster. I must heal, master Potter, please return to me after the Halloween feast. §_ With a strained bow the king of serpents entered the mouth of the statue and it closed behind him.

* * *

Severus Left in quite the rush. Albus suspected he had poured too much of his magic into a spell and ended up drained and embarrassed. If he used magic on a student and wound up like this that means that in this castle stands a child capable of rising to be a dark lord. Severus could be trusted with his knowledge and skill but no student deserved the same amount of trust. The aged wizard began to slowly look over the mass of children in the great hall in hopes of catching some glimpse of the magic or magical struggle that had left his tool so weakened.

There was perhaps a dozen students in the school with sufficient skill to block any of the spells Severus was capable of using without his wand. Wandless legilimency was his specialty though and not even the most skilled student could repel him properly. _No, if it were legilimency he had used only his target would be the one drained._ It could not have been a potion either unless Severus was dealing in permanent body enhancements, and there have not been any books containing most of those since headmaster Dippet had removed the books from the restricted section at his urging. It had taken a full month for that first major compulsion charm to take effect. Well, he was a prodigious potions brewer. Perhaps he had invented a new brew or reinvented some of the old enhancements.

The leader of the light was disappointed. If he wanted answers on this matter he would need to go to Severus himself and break past his occlumency barriers, and that would leave him sufficiently drained. If anyone was a true master in the mind arts it was Severus Snape. His magical power and skill was nothing special for an adult or for one of Voldemort's most trusted death eaters, but trying to break into his mind was torture. His defenses, unlike any other occlumens, were all based on feelings of pain and misery. Any legilimens that wanted into Severus' head would have to do it through the worst emotions humanity experienced.

 _Time to act._ Albus stood and made his excuses to Minerva before parting and heading straight for the dungeon office that served as Severus' home while at Hogwarts. The Aging wizard could feel wards that were hastily erected to keep his office from being entered. Breaking these wards would drain Albus enough that he'd have trouble breaking his servant's mind afterwards. _Now is not the time to worry about being weakened._ He gripped the elder wand and shattered the wards without a word. Softly he opened the door, building up his magic for a shield charm to prevent any of Severus' nastier curses from wounding him. As he entered the office he saw a single eye peeking through the greasy curtain of Snape's hair. It was bloodshot, the man without a heart was crying for the first time since the night Voldemort had taken Lily Potter from him. _He's unstable, I'll be able to conserve my strength!_ Before Severus could react Albus whipped his wand at the potions professor and shouted, "Legilimens!"

His mind broke so easily. Albus only felt a quick burst of pain before he was inside the cottage at Godric's Hollow, witnessing the death of the Potters. The details of the memory were much more refined than any piecemeal compilation he had been able to form in the ten years since their deaths. James had even shouted about Voldemort's serpentine features before meeting his demise. Then it was over, Severus had relived the death of his greatest foe and his greatest love tonight. _There is only one person in this castle who could possess that memory. I must find Harry and undo what has happened to him._

"He's strong, Albus, he held me inside that memory before warning me to never delve into his mind again." Severus' voice was hoarse as if he'd screamed since he left the great hall.

"How could a boy of twelve hold you inside a memory he shouldn't have Severus?" Could it be? "Was there any feeling similar to the way the dark lord's legilimency probe feels?" Albus dreaded the answer of his questions. _Voldemort may be truly immortal already._

"N-no sir. His mind is different from the dark lord's." He paused, dragging in a ragged breath. "It was like I was lost in a sea of utter nothingness, and then he forced me to watch her die. His power can't be underestimated Albus."

 _If the boy can contain Severus then I'll need to have him there as a contingency._ "Then the time has come for me to delve into his mind with full force. Will you assist me in this endeavor Severus?"

The bloodshot eyes of Severus Snape looked directly into Albus' own. "I'm sorry sir, I will not let myself see that even once more."

The Supreme Mugwump harrumphed before crossing his arms, "Very well my friend. I'm sorry."

* * *

Arriving in the Chamber, which was considerably cleaner now, Harry yelled out in his practiced parseltongue. _§ Speak to me, oh great basilisk, for I must learn the art of plunging sharp objects into people. §_ His mirth went unconcealed even through the hiss of the serpent language. There was no response other than the sound of shifting further into the dim green light of the chamber. He decided to venture further in with hopes of seeing what his new ally was up to. Once he had entered the chamber proper Harry noticed that the massive mouth of the Slytherin statue was open and that was where the shifting sounds came from. _§ Oi! You great big snake! What are you doing in there?" §_

A hissing laughter rang out, followed by a call of, _§ come and see for yourself master Potter. The door is wide open, that is if you can reach it with that frail body of yours. §_ Another bout of hissing laughter erupted from within the statue.

 _We'll see who's frail soon snake._ Harry focused his magic to augment his legs and jumped. He easily reached the opening and reached out to get a hand hold on the massive mouth of Slytherin. Pulling himself up the Peverell heir saw that inside the statue was a tunnel with half a dozen rooms branching off from it. The sounds of movement could be heard from the second room on the left. Entering the room the Peverell heir saw that it was vast and currently covered in various geometric patterns drawn in an eerie black substance. The basilisk was in his human form and completing another pattern, a nine point array in the dead center of the room.

He rose from his completed work and turned to Harry. Mild surprise flashed across his features, _§ this is quite fortuitous, master. May I ask you how you got up here so quickly? §_ The basilisk flexed his right hand, revealing a small cut on his wrist nearly covered in the same dark blood Joe had spilled.

 _§ I'm able to augment my body by concentrating my magic in certain parts of it, basically I can dramatically increase my physical ability. The best part of this ability is that magic has weakened or no effect on me if I'm concentrating it hard enough. §_ Harry could not suppress his pride in his skills. _§ What sort of ritual requires these runes drawn in basilisk blood? And what should I call you? Its growing tiresome to call you by your species and not a name. §_

The basilisk appeared thoughtful for a moment before replying, _§ master Slytherin referred to me as Ouroboros, after the greek myth about a serpent that grew so large it ate its own tail. The ritual is to strengthen your body by making you immune to all poisons weaker than my venom, hence the use of my blood, venom, untainted unicorn's blood, and phoenix tears. §_ Ouroboros gestured to the center of the newly finished array. _§ Please master, stand in the center of the array and focus your magic at all the points of the array. Your wand should be used for this. §_ The serpent king stepped into the doorway of the room and crossed his arms, waiting.

Harry did as was asked of him and stepped into the array, drawing his wand and releasing nineteen percent of his limiter. Doing his able best, the Peverell heir distributed magic evenly across all points of the array. _§ Now you must apply your blood along the central rune diagram over my blood. I suggest you cut your wrist for ease of application. §_ Knowing the pain would not be terrible, the-boy-who-lived cast a wandless cutting curse and began to trace over the array. When he finished Harry stood in the center of the the rune diagram. All the rune diagrams in the room glowed a deep purple around him and his core began to burn. The burn grew more intense and spread through his veins until it felt like his body was being torn apart. The-boy-who-lived let loose a howl of the utmost pain before blacking out.

* * *

The child's body dropped in the middle of master Salazar's ritual room. _This one is a powerful wizard_. He is the heir worthy of donning master's mantle, the other is only capable of hate and rage. Harry Potter believes in honor and strength, but does not wish to punish the weak and honorless unless they endanger him. He seeks vengeance against his parent's killer but only to prevent a worse fate for others. The issue will be how much loss he's willing to withstand to kill the false heir.

A groan came from the young parsletongue. The ritual was complete and the changes to the young one's body had been made. _Its time for his first test._

Harry rolled over and began to rise from the stone floor. _§ Wha-what happened Ouroboros? I feel like an troll sat on me. §_ As he stood the Peverell heir stretched his neck and limbs before turning to the serpent king.

 _§ Your body was altered, master. Now if I were to cut you with one of these, §_ he drew two daggers from his belt. _§ You would be completely fine, aside from the wound at least. These daggers were forged from my own fangs and are imbued with my potent venom. Let's see if you can survive a short spar with me. §_ The serpentine features grinned as Ouroboros drove towards his new master.

 _§ I don't even have a weapon! §_ Harry stood his ground and focused all the magic he could into his limbs. As the serpent king slashed at him with the daggers he attempted to bat away the blades. Searing pain flared in his forearms as he barely managed to bat the weapons away.

The snake backed up and dropped to the ground for a seat. _§ The damage is done master. Now we wait a few minutes to see if you die, and if you don't then you need not worry about anything. The bonus of immunity to poison means that you're immune to most potions as well. §_ With a hissing laugh he continued, _§ if you survive my venom the only way to strengthen your body outside of regular exercise will be through rituals and enchantments. I recommend rituals as they can be made permanent with a little alteration. In fact, once your body has healed I also suggest a ritual to make your body more resilient. §_

Harry sat across from Ouroboros on the floor and inspected his arms. They were definitely cut, however the wounds were very shallow considering the amount of force the serpent king exerted on him. _So I can weaken his attacks but not render them useless_. _Looks like I'll have to perfect my evasion skills._ _§ Was that your full strength you hit me with just now? I was barely even wounded. §_

The serpent bore his fangs and hissed. _§ Less than half of my strength went into that attack boy. This was your first test, and luckily, you've passed it. Return to me in a week's time to begin training your body in the use of my chosen weapons. We will also discuss what rituals you may need to undergo to deal with the false heir of Slytherin. §_ Ouroboros turned from him and began Cleaning the blood from the room.

Harry rose and made to leave the chamber, pausing only adjust his limiter back to his original half percent of his full strength. Casting the tempus spell before ascending the stairs back to the second floor girl's bathroom, he swore. It was already half past midnight. Hastily he cast a disillusionment charm on himself and made for Gryffindor tower.

Reaching the third floor corridor he heard a clatter and raised voices. Curiosity won him over in the end as he silently approached the sounds. There were definitely two males and a female involved. The males voices were deeper and betrayed older students, the woman's age was harder to guess by her voice. Now that he was closer he could make out the argument.

"Why would you refuse my offer Nymphadora?" _It's Tonks! Oh she's pissed now._ "I know you want to be an auror and my grandfather is the head auror with the Department of Magical Law Enforcement." He tutted and the other male laughed. "All you would have to do is provide a few services for me whenever I am in need of them and my grandfather will be sure to promote you to a high place among the auror corps."

"As if I'd spread my legs just for one up in life Scrimgeour." She nearly hissed the name of his old foe at this boy. _Time to step in._

Still under his disillusionment he crept closer until he could see the three. Tonks was looking different in her school robes instead of the auror uniform he was accustomed to her wearing but her bubblegum pink hair was the same as at their first meeting. The two boys however were ones he hadn't seen before, they bore the colors of Hufflepuff just like the young metamorphmagus though. The first had a long crop of dirty blond hair and soft features, he was barely a hundred and sixty five centimeters tall. The second, who Harry could only assume was Scrimgeour was tall and fairly muscular with a short crop of dark brown hair. He would have been an attractive man if it weren't for the pockmarks that littered his face. The-boy-who-lived stepped behind a suit of armor and dispelled his disillusionment charm before stepping out.

"Shouldn't you be spending your time working on some transfiguration to hide all of that ugly you've gone and gotten on your face big guy?" All three of the students were startled by the appearance of the twelve year old. The bigger of the two boys turned and flung a muttered throwing charm at Harry. Clenching his left fist and focusing his magic he swatted the spell aside while drawing his own wand and sending a silent throwing charm of his own at the older student. The fool went flying into a suit of armor further down the corridor.

"You little bastard, incendio!" The fire the blonde aimed at him was moving slow enough that the Peverell heir had time to avoid it. Stepping to the side he decided to bring the fight to the nameless Hufflepuff. It was over as soon as Harry reached Scrimgeour's friend, a single punch to the stomach followed by striking the boy shoulder to shoulder with his wand put him down. His focus moved to the jumble of armor and robes that marked the place of the stronger of the two boys.

Scrimgeour rose from the pile of armor clutching the longsword with venom in his gaze. "I'm going to make you wish you'd never been born, Potter." The older boy ran towards him, sword held high overhead. _Shit! I've already deflected magic single handed but if I disarm a upperclassman then Dumbles will really be after me._ Aiming his wand at an untouched suit of armor nearer than the oncoming seventh year Harry summoned the shield it bore to him. He raised the steel shield in front of him, preparing to catch the blow with it, only to hear Tonks yell out.

"No you don't asshole, bombarda!" Her spell shattered the longsword instantly, sending shrapnel in all directions. Scrimgeour received the brunt of the shards of metal but all three students in close proximity were pierced by the remainder. The Peverell heir received the least wounds as the shield protected the bulk of his head and torso. Stinging pain erupted all across his legs and he felt his adrenaline begin to flow.

"That wasn't the best spell to use Tonks. I think we all need to head to the hospital wing." Harry dropped the steel shield and slowly began to check himself over, pulling shards of the longsword from him where he could.

"At least you had a shield to protect you. I could've handled those two idiots by myself and I wouldn't have had that metal shower." Anger was clear in her tone and manner as she pointed her wand at the second year body of Harry Potter. "What's to stop me from healing myself and leaving you three for Filch to find and punish?"

"Maybe I'm strong enough to force you into helping me get these imbeciles to Madam Pomfrey." Harry smirked and aimed his wand at her in turn. Her eyes changed from a calm blue to a deep black as she flung a silent curse at him. "It won't be that easy Nymphadora." lowering his wand, he focused his magic throughout his body and her curse collided harmlessly with his body. "I told you so," he grinned, overcome with amusement.

The seventeen year old dropped to her knees, "h-how did you do that? That was a spell I created for my OWL in Arithmancy." The metamorphmagus slumped down onto the floor, defeated by a child five years her junior.

"Don't worry, my skills are the results of immensely hard training. Now get up and help me float these two idiots to the hospital wing so we can get this steel removed and our cuts healed." He offered her a hand, which she took willingly, and helped her up. They both cast silent levitation charms on Scrimgeour and his friend and made their way to the first floor where Madam Pomfrey and the hospital wing were located.

 **Alright, folks, thus ends our fourth chapter of Death's Power. Please leave a review or two about what you guys have liked or disliked. I've embarked slightly from the established ages in J.K.R.'s books and made Tonks a bit younger and I may change a few other things as we make our journey through Harry's attempt to end old Tommy Riddle.**


	5. Chapter 5: The Mind Arts and You

**Well here's chapter five of Death's Power. Sorry it took so long.**

 ** _§ Parseltongue §_**

 ** _Thoughts_**

 ** _'mental communication'_**

 **I own only my original characters. Harry Potter and his world are property of J.K. Rowling.**

Chapter Five: The Mind Arts and You

Poppy Pomfrey was taking her nightly inventory of all the various potions kept in the Hospital wing for the common maladies as she heard the main doors swing open and a pair of voices call out for her.

"Umm, Madam Pomfrey, we've got four wounded students that need to be looked after." Harry wanted this encounter over as soon as possible. He already felt drained after the blood loss from the ritual, not to mention the shrapnel embedded in his legs. Tonks wasn't doing much better, even if she didn't show it her power was nearly spent after that bombardment curse. If it weren't so simple to levitate and move a body she'd have collapsed already.

The older witch strode out of her office in the hospital wing to see who had come in at this ungodly hour. _Of course its Harry Potter. He has visited my office far more often than I'd have liked in this last year alone._ "What is it now mister Potter?" She noticed the several puncture wounds on the quartet of wizards and gasped, "Merlin's beard! What have you gotten yourselves into now?"

Harry and Tonks deposited the boys they had levitated into a set of empty beds. Smiling as broadly as he could the Peverell heir replied, "oh you know, a brisk bit of steel exploding on us was the best way to end our collective night." Tonks punched the boy's arm.

"Now's not the time for humor you little git!" She turned to the healer and straightened up, "These two were trying to force me into doing something when Harry showed up. He tried to stop them and Billius Scrimgeour here," she kicked the student Harry had deposited in the first hospital bed, "got thrown into a suit of armor. The idiot then decided to come after us with a sword! So I blew it up and we became living pin cushions." Tonks was fuming from the sheer idea that Billius had wanted her to please him just for a job after this school year, not to mention the shards of metal embedded throughout her body.

"Oh Merlin! Well you two had better take a seat and I'll begin fixing you four up." Poppy surveyed the wounds on all four of them before she began removing the shards of metal from Scrimgeour, pausing after she manually removed each shard to magically heal the damage. Tonks knew that this was to make sure he wouldn't bleed out due to any major artery being cut. She was checking herself to see if any bits of metal had come near her vitals. _I really hope she can heal these without a scar. Even as a metamorphmagus I wont be able to change this many scars_.

Harry saw the intense thought on the face of his future friend and decided to throw caution to the wind. Focusing his magic he reached out to her mind and established contact. _'Hey you, with the changeable face and body. Can you hear me?'_ He grinned, thinking his dig would elicit a response.

 _No way! Why can I hear a voice in my head? My occlumency should be more than enough to prevent something like this from happening!_ Tonks closed her eyes and began trying to empty her mind but the words still rung out in the silence. Finally she snapped in response. _'Yes. It should be impossible considering that I've been training my occlumency since I was seven though. Explain yourself!'_

 _'From what I know this form of communication is one of the oldest mind arts and trumps things like occlumency or legilimency.'_ Harry felt around in Tonks' mind and could find nothing but her indignation, probably the effects of her using occlumency to block out as much as possible. He transmitted feelings of kindness and hope before speaking again. _'It's Harry. Is your occlumency strong enough to keep the headmaster out?'_

Puzzlement flowed from the teen's mind. _'Are you afraid the Headmaster will punish you? I'd be more worried about ol' McGonagall if I were you.'_

 _'I will gladly take any punishment from her but Professor Dumbledore uses legilimency on us and I don't like having my privacy invaded. Especially when I know things he can't be allowed to know.'_ Mulling over his options for a moment the-boy-who-lived swore mentally _. I'll have to show her something then!_ Harry focused on memories of the times he spoke with Joe prior to being sent back as well as his training with the sword. Sending the memory to her, the-boy-who-lived added the simple message, _'he wants me to die in order to beat Voldemort but Joe has told me my death is not necessary for Riddle to be defeated. Please believe me!'_

Nymphadora sat in silence while madam Pomfrey had finished with Billius Scrimgeour and moved on to his weak friend, Robert Selwyn. Once the last bit of Harry and Joe's conversation about how best to kill Tom Riddle had finished she gasped loudly.

"What's wrong young lady?" Tonks cursed herself for reacting so violently. "Are you feeling lightheaded?" The healer had moved over to her and was surveying the damage to her body.

"Oh I'm fine madam Pomfrey. I just realized something and reacted to it out loud." The look on the pink haired witch's face transformed from surprise to a calm front before she waved off the older woman. "Please take care of Robert and Harry first." The matron stared at her for a moment before returning to the unconscious seventh year. _'Yes I can keep most people out when I concentrate.'_ She could feel relief radiate from the connection to the-boy-who-lived.

 _'Excellent! Please leave out any mention of me batting that spell away or mention my ability to use cantless spells. It would make things very difficult for me.'_ Harry sent her a modified version of the events that would work out to their same result. _'I'll explain everything later. Especially your future role in the second war.'_

 _'A second war?!'_ Tonks nearly screamed but regained her composure.

 _'Don't worry about it right now. You've got a good three years before things start to get bad.'_ Impatience came with his words this time.

Madam Pomfrey had finished with Selwyn and moved on to Harry, mumbling about half hazard spells wounding too many people the whole time she worked on his body. She finished picking the remaining shards of metal from the boy's body and healing the torn muscle and skin. As she moved on to Tonks she erected a barrier to keep anyone from entering the wing and seeing the exposed teen's body. Harry chuckled slightly and initiated contact with her once more.

 _'I don't know why she put up a barrier, I got the whole show all the way down here.'_ He made sure that a feeling of humor accompanied his words.

A burst of laughter escaped the metamorphmagus. _'Not the whole show little boy. There's plenty more,'_ she allowed a brief image of herself in her underwear to pass from her mind to his. Luckily, the barrier kept Tonks from seeing the wild blush that appeared on Harry's face.

"What's so funny miss Tonks?" Impatience was clear in the matron's voice.

Blushing slightly the teen replied, "Harry already saw the bits you're working on. We came from the third floor corridor."

The healer tutted, "he may have seen it on the way here but that will not continue. We have to think of his innocence as well as yours."

"Fine fine. I don't think he's quite as innocent as everyone else does." She fell silent as the healer continued her work.

* * *

The paintings of former headmasters and mistresses were all attempting to talk at once. Armando Dippet's portrait had just been pulled from its frame and returned with a story of the Potter boy performing cantless magic to defend a seventh year from two other seventh years. What's more, he had deflected a throwing spell with his bare hands! The various shelves, chairs, and his desk were all creaking under the weight of Albus Dumbledore's rage. The four students were headed towards the infirmary and all were covered in metal shards from what the portrait had so aptly called "the result of having angry children in a castle full of swords and armor". The aging wizard groaned. If Harry can cast spells aside with ease even Legilimency would not be an avenue he could utilize. Albus needed to gather his strength and attempt to get him alone once he could devise possibly a rune scheme to limit his power. Sitting in his chair, the leader of the light began to focus on a few diagrams or even a spell that might make this less difficult for him. Once Harry had left the hospital wing he would go and collect the memory from one of the boys who had attacked him and the girl. _Now I wait._

* * *

Once Poppy finished treating Tonks she mended her robes and rushed the two conscious students off to their dorms. Harry and Tonks left as quickly as they could. Once out in the corridor the Peverell heir cast a wandless tempus spell. "Shit, its nearly three in the morning!" The evening was well and truly over but thank Joe it was Sunday. He'd not have to worry about missing any classes. "So, why the hell would you share **that** image with a twelve year old, Nymphadora?" A grin had returned to the face of Harry Potter.

Blushing the seventeen year old looked away and mumbled, "I...you...mmmph."

The Peverell heir worked his way around the metamorphmagus to stare directly into her eyes. "What was that miss Tonks?" His grin was growing larger by the second.

Reluctantly she made eye contact with him before stating at barely more than a whisper. "In that memory...you looked really fit...and I figured you showed me a bit of you so it wouldn't hurt to show off something equally tantalizing." During the statement her hair turned a red more brilliant than any Weasley could hope for and her whole face matched the color. Harry could practically feel the heat coming off the young woman. "And don't call me Nymphadora!"

Expecting a vastly different answer, Harry erupted into hysterical laughter. By the time he'd finished he was on his back and flailing around like a loon. The girl merely blushed and even deeper shade of red and turned away from him. Wiping tears from his eyes the Peverell heir stood and began making his way back to Gryffindor tower. Before he exited the future auror's hearing range he called back to her. "It'll take a couple of years for my body to be as mature as you're wanting it but don't worry, I'll definitely owl you once that day comes." Leaving her to think on his words Harry made his arduous trip back to his bed and drifted off to sleep as soon as his head touched the pillow.

* * *

The death cave was filled to the brim with fifteen reapers and Joe standing before them. The first of his kind grinned a bit before addressing his 'children'. "So I see my dearest Anne has informed you all of my special project." The reaper in question flinched as her master spoke. Taking note of his servant's panicked fidgeting Joe smiled before continuing. "As she may have not covered the whole of the matter I will inform you all now of the project and its current status." He waved a hand and fifteen chairs much like his own leather backed mahogany chair appeared behind each of his children. Taking his own seat, Joe sighed before continuing on. "Young mister Potter, as some of you may know, is a descendant my dear old friend Ignotus Peverell. He is also marked by Fate to clash with the powerful and foolishly defiant Tom Riddle."

The calm of the room was broken by the combined rage of the fifteen reapers flexing their power and cursing the name of the foolish wizard. Joe simply raised his left hand to silence the crop of reapers.

"Due to continued interference from Albus Dumbledore and Molly Weasley young mister Potter has felt our touch twelve times. The latest brush with me was in the final phases of breaking Riddle's hold on immortality. There was but one soul anchoring horcrux left when Harry was killed by Tom." More grumbling and anger filled whispering came from his trusty fifteen servants. "So this last time instead of the standard move back along his timeline I have elected to have him learn from both Merlin in the arena of wizard's duels and from myself in the art of the sword."

"But Master, why would you teach a living being your skills?" One of Joe's favorite reapers, a samurai named Mugen he had claimed from the fallen during the Genpei War of the eleventh century, seemed utterly bewildered by his choice. "You have always chosen warriors of exceptional skill to join our ranks and to complete what only we can. From what I've seen the boy has power naturally but less speed than all but Anne." Anne aimed a furious glare at Mugen.

Joe held up a single finger, silencing all the reapers. "Peace my children. As I have stated before Fate has decided that mister Potter must encounter Riddle in battle. I also elected to train him, Mugen, because he displays skills and intelligence that remind me of myself. No doubt if he can conquer Tom and increase his own skill with the sword before he passes he will join us as the seventeenth of our kind. Since you are so concerned with his lack of speed my dear samurai," a wolfish grin spread across the elder reaper's features, "you will instruct him once he has completed his training with young Anne and William."

The five reapers older than Mugen laughed audibly as the severe man glowered at the thought of having to train a whelp such as the Potter boy.

* * *

Rising from her bed, Nymphadora Tonks mulled over the previous night's events including her strange mental contact with the-boy-who-lived. This would prove to make her NEWT year easily strange if not downright crazy. How could she find a twelve year old, let alone the savior of Magical Britain, attractive? The images of him training with a sword and who he referred to as death came back to her and though she was alone she blushed. He was her age physically in that memory. The true question is was that the prime of his physical body. If not she definitely needed to keep in touch with the young boy until he became the heartthrob she had been visited by in her slumber. She yawned as she brushed her teeth and went through around ten different color and style combinations for her hair today. She settled on a deep purple that fell just below her shoulders with light curls.

Now that she'd chosen her hair for the day she removed her Iron Maiden tee and replaced it with undergarments and a plain tee shirt, jeans, and boots. Topping off her outfit, or concealing it as she thought, was her black outer cloak with the Hufflepuff crest on the chest. She headed for the Great hall hoping to catch the end of lunch and maybe find a few friends to engage in a conversation about a certain second year. Gathering her thoughts and storing all she could with her occlumency for later inspection Tonks strode into the hall and quickly deposited herself at the Hufflepuff table, being careful to face the Slytherin end of the hall and not the one with a certain green eyed boy. It had to be late into lunch as most of the sandwiches were gone and the hall was decidedly less full than it normally was. The purple haired woman began to gather whatever food was remaining and tucked in.

As she was finishing her last bacon sandwich she felt a weight drop onto the bench to her right. Using her peripheral vision Tonks could make out the crimson of Gryffindor's crest amid the standard black of the school's cloak. "Hello Nymphadora." The-boy-who-lived was not going to continue living if he kept up his use of that name. The surrounding members of her house all gasped and moved away slightly to avoid the coming outburst.

* * *

Albus checked his tracking charm on Harry Potter every fifteen minutes until finally he left the hospital wing. _Finally! I can get a look at this power for myself._ The leader of the light drew his wand and focused as he disillusioned himself completely. Once he reached near invisibility, the ancient wizard left his office for the hospital wing. The journey was short and only marred by passing Argus filch about on his nightly cleaning detail. Dumbledore smiled. _The filthy squib deserves all the work he's having to put forth to keep my castle clean._ He reached Poppy's domain without further incident and began siphoning young Billius and Robert for all he could about their fight with Harry. Upon closer examination of the memories, Harry was capable of slapping an overpowered curse away with his off hand as well as silently summoning fairly heavy items like an iron shield. _Damn it! If only that ruddy half blood hadn't shattered the sword Scrimgeour was using to attack the boy I could have seen more of the chosen one's capabilities._ He showed excellent dueling skills though by side stepping the flames Selwyn produced. Why did he charge forward and strike the older boy though? Surely it wasn't a reflex from his home life. Albus had seen nearly every beating the boy had been given and Harry never once fought back. This would take some pondering. Perhaps it was time for a dueling club to be started once more, led by that looker Gilderoy of course.

* * *

 _Aragog's nest had been purged and instead death eaters stood in the web encased hollow deep within the forbidden forest. Riddle's staunchest subordinate stood within arm's reach of him, at this point only Bellatrix remained. Lucius and Narcissa were still alive but after the loss of Pettigrew and Harry inside their very own manor they were not allowed within thirty feet of the nearly mortal Voldemort. The true invisibility cloak kept him hidden from the multitude of witches and wizards who had thrown their lot in with the monster. He resisted the urge to release a surge of fire to thin out the foul git's supporters, no he'd only resort to that if Nagini was free of her magical containment ward. The brilliant orb of light in question was hovering nearly five feet to the left of Tom with the serpent it contained swirling about inside it._ Damn it! The fucking snake is nearly untouchable in that thing. _Throwing off the cloak He cast a devastating chain of cutting and bone shattering curses directly at Tom and mustered all his hate to send a single killing curse at the protected Nagini. Tom had taken notice immediately and drug Bellatrix in front of the curse chain with a flick of the elder wand._

 _"Master NOOO!" The final lieutenant of Voldemort's army was caught by the full curse chain. The first cutting curse severed her wand arm at the elbow, followed by a bone shattering curse that reduced her chest to a lump of bloody flesh, the third curse severed her head just below the nose horizontally, and finally the last cutting curse split the lump of flesh formerly known as Bella from what should have been her right shoulder to her left hip. Almost simultaneously both Riddle and Harry bellowed out, "avada kedavra!" Harry's bolt of sickly green pierced the ward around Nagini but passed the snake itself as it spun, striking a death eater further back. Tom had a more satisfactory result when his own bolt of magic hit Harry and the-boy-who-lived ceased to do just that._

"Lacero!" Harry screamed as he woke from his nightmare, his wandless spell collided with the stone ceiling of the second year's dorm. It had not been powerful enough to break through the magic imbued granite that formed the majority of Hogwarts castle, but it left a sizable gash that nearly spanned from one side of the ceiling to the other. Shuddering and covered in a cold sweat, Harry sought to regain control of his emotions. His magic had weighed down on the furniture in the room, the sound of heavy wooden bed frames creaking and cracking filled the room. Clamping down on his emotions the Peverell heir slowly attained a calm and collected state. Harry idly cast a tempus charm and noted that it was nearly one in the afternoon. He sped to the bathroom to shower and take care of his ablutions.

His cleanliness rituals taken care of, he dressed in a pair of jogging pants, a plain white shirt, and his trainers before donning his school cloak. Harry made his way down to the Great hall as quickly as possible and found Tonks inhaling all the food she could while keeping her back to the Gryffindor table. _Oh this is going to be fun._ Approaching his prey silently he decided to flop onto the bench next to her rather loudly in an attempt to frighten her. "Hello Nymphadora." Her housemates all backed off to avoid her ire as she turned on him.

"Call me Tonks or I'm going to reduce you to a lump of black robes with a Gryffindor crest." The metamorphmagus exuded a slight aura of magic as she stared down the boy who nearly made her faint the night before.

"Yes, Tonks." Harry had the grace to look contrite as he mumbled.

"Now what do you want with me?" Tonks' glare could stun a troll at ten paces.

The Peverell heir looked fairly timid before blurting, "do you wanna take a walk around the lake with me?" He made a spectacle of sputtering before adding, "if you're free and ok with hanging out with such a young kid." Using his magic to quickly establish a mental connection with the young witch he added, _'I need to speak with you about a few things away from prying ears and beards.'_

Tonks rose slowly, leaving her nearly finished sandwich on the plate in front of her, and smiled down at the twelve year old boy. "I would be honored to spend a little time with the-boy-who-lived, especially since we're distant cousins." She brushed herself off and began walking towards the entrance hall with Harry following her. As they exited the castle the metamorphmagus' nerves eased. Noticing the relaxation in the older woman the Peverell heir spoke out.

"Head to the far side of the lake by the forest." He focused as they walked and cast every detection spell he could on the both of them wandlessly. He found two tracking charms and a listening charm on himself as well as a listening charm on Tonks. _I'm going to rip every single hair from that old bastard's beard with my bare hands!_ As the pair reached the far end of the lake Harry drew in a deep breath and silently dispelled the tracking and listening charms on them. The charms shattered like a thin layer of ice on both their bodies and Tonks blurted out.

"What the hell was that?!"

"Tracking and listening charms," the older woman swore, "and fairly powerful ones at that. I'm feeling a little winded after getting rid of them." Harry staggered a little before taking a seat in the sands of the lake shore. "Shall we get down to business my...cousin you said?" Immediately following the question he initiated mental contact. _'Draw out telling me how we're distantly related, just in case any other ears find us.'_ The teen witch furrowed her brow.

"Why yes, Harry. Your grandmother was named Dorea Black, sister to Arcturus Black, my grandfather, and Head of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black." Nymphadora quickly added in thought, _'what is it you really want to ask of me?'_ He could feel a slight apprehension accompany her response.

"But you're a Tonks and not a Black?" The Peverell heir twiddled his wand in his right hand. _'I would like to know if you could help me learn the finer points of legilimency.'_

Tonks snorted before responding, "my mum is Andromeda Black. She married my muggleborn father and we were disowned from the family." Now humor came with her true response. _'Of course I could. The Blacks are known for their grasp of the mind arts and mum taught me as soon as I was old enough to concentrate. Where though? Its technically an illegal branch of magic these days.'_

Feigning a good deal of meekness Harry replied, "oh...so we're cousins but once removed then?" Beneath the meek exterior the-boy-who-lived exuded an aura of pure confidence and even a little humor. _'Meet me tonight just before curfew on the seventh floor by the tapestry of Barnabus the Barmy. We'll find some privacy up there.'_

"Yes, so we don't have to be too particularly close if you'd prefer we not be, but I would love to get to know you better Harry." Tonks continued, "well cous, I've got my NEWTs to study for so I'll see you later." She meandered off and headed for the Hufflepuff common room, glad that she had not blushed around a twelve year old again, even if he was eighteen mentally and emotionally. She was unintentionally shaking her hips with fluidity as she walked away.

"Later Tonks!" He watched her leave, wiggling her hips in the way women are known to, before initiating mental contact one last time. _'Keep shaking your bum like that and I just may grab it next time.'_ Sitting and waiting a few minutes before he tested his legs to see if he'd be able to stand once more. _Time to move body._ Wobbling a bit, Harry headed for the library to do a bit of reading through his now cleverly disguised Peverell grimoire. He had been most proud since he'd finished the enchantments that made the book look like a third year transfiguration book and had resorted to keeping it on his person, shrunken, at all times. It was proof that he was not just the-boy-who-lived, but the next head of the Potter house and inheritor to the Peverell knowledge. He was most interested in a topic he'd reached before his meeting with Ouroboros the past night. It was called Veering, apparently it was a older and more effective form of apparating if he had grasped the concept correctly.

* * *

 **All right ladies and gentlemen. Thus ends another chapter of Death's Power. I'm back in school (bleh) so I may take a bit for my updates. This chapter was a bit harder for me to pound out but I'm hoping that the next will be a bit easier to bring to you. As always please leave a review and if you'd like favorite or follow the story. Peace.**


	6. Chapter 6: Broken Magic

**Here's Chapter Six of my wonderful (that's up for debate) little fiction. Please bear with me as I'm having some trouble cranking these bad boys out. Directly after releasing this chapter I'm going to take a bit of time to go over the previous chapters and update their format so it's easier to read from the start. I'm not surprised to find that this whole writing fan fiction thing is not all groping butts and kicking nuts.**

 ** _§ Parseltongue §_**

 ** _Thoughts_**

 ** _'mental communication'_**

 **I own only my original characters. Harry Potter and his world are property of J.K. Rowling.**

Chapter Six: Broken Magic

The stone walls of this room were covered with shelves littered with books. The cold grey covered by the warmth of oak and variety of leather bound books on subjects ranging from arithmancy to magical zoology. In the smallest corner of this trove of knowledge sat a boy reading a book with knowledge far more obscure than even the strangest of books in the restricted section. Harry was trying to stop himself from vibrating with excitement. He'd read the same paragraph by Hadrian Peverell ten times looking for any detail he could have missed.

 **Year seven hundred fifty four**

 **Father and I have been dealing with this foolish wizard saying he found a more simple way to traverse long distances. He calls it apparating. This method uses a generic memory of a location to drop a wizard into the vicinity. After attempting it ourselves we find it far inferior to veering. Honestly who needs to spin to initiate magical travel? The feeling of using this apparating technique is reminiscent of occupying an exorbitant amount of space between the destination and starting point. It is indeed less magically draining than the current method but also far less accurate and prone to bouts of nausea.**

 **Year seven hundred sixty two**

 **This is insane! The fools who populate this country have taken to that idiot Twycross' apparating with such fervor that I fear I must leave the method of veering here and class it as family magic. Veering is a specific type of magical travel, one can reach a precise destination with prior knowledge of being in said place. All that is necessary is for the warlock or witch in question to be capable of veering is to visualize their destination as well as them melding from the air into being there. Of course there's a fair bit of magic needed to achieve this, however an adult warlock should be able to veer six to ten times in any given day. Remember to never overuse your magic when learning this technique, it was taught widely to teens approaching adulthood and even after a century of this method being the only one it is not uncommon for a teen to succumb to magical exhaustion and die during training. Heir to my family, please use and preserve this magic as it may be all but forgotten by the time you receive this grimoire.**

The book was filled with little tidbits like this so far. _Hot blood must run in the family_. As Harry read the last line from Hadrian's entry a loud tapping was heard to his left. Looking up, he saw it was none other than Hermione with her "you're in trouble" face set in her features. The Peverell heir grinned as he made eye contact with her, "why Hermione, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Why is it that you sit here night after night, in a corner, reading a book on fourth year transfiguration?" Her disapproval was thick in her voice.

Closing his grimoire, Harry gathered his thoughts and responded. "Professor McGonagall suggested that I read up on the theory of higher level transfiguration and when I'm confident in my understanding of the theory I'm supposed to come to her before actually trying any of these transfigurations."

Her expression was replaced by curiosity and even a little envy. "Have you run through all of second and third year transfiguration already?"

"Not even a little bit Hermione. I've been thumbing through the texts and when I come across a spell I think would be useful for the future I read about it."

This was her breaking point. Harry's close friend had been distant for a few weeks but now it was time for Hermione the protector of all things written to return. "What do you mean?! Every spell in our standard book of spells will be useful in the future!" Before the bushy brunette could build a head of steam a new voice startled the two.

"You two! Out! Now!" While the two had their little interaction the aged librarian had crept up on them. Her face was a scowl of pure loathing as she quickly ushered the two out of the library. Raised voices were as much of a threat to the written word as food and drinks were to them.

* * *

In a room filled with honey colored wooden desks and tables sat a woman. The stone walls adorned with cheerful yellow and black hangings identified it as the Badger's Den. Rolls of parchment and open books for potions and charms bedecked the large desk nearest the fireplace in the Den. The purple haired teen's mind was not on any of the information laid before her, but on the image of a young man wielding a sword against a fearsome looking man. _Harry Potter will definitely grow into a fine man, hell even now he's powerful enough to completely negate my despair spell._ Tonks' hair had changed to a deep red and shortened vastly as she mulled over the body of the boy-who-lived from the memory he gave her. Suddenly she shook her head and began to focus on her NEWT revision papers she'd gotten from her mother.

The only difference between the NEWT requirements for being a Mind Healer and an Auror was that she would need to attend a three year training program before she'd gain the title whereas her mother had a five year apprenticeship under a senior healer in Saint Mungo's before gaining her own title. Both career paths required five NEWTs of at least exceeds expectations in Potions, Transfiguration, Charms, Herbology, and Defense Against the Dark Arts. It was obvious the better choice in career was being an Auror. Catching dark wizards, witches, and rogue dark creatures was preferable to healing those that had been cursed or attacked by said elements of society. She wouldn't tell many but Tonks had a great fear of blood and that cemented her decision. Though the way Harry's training with the grim reaper went she might end up seeing just as much blood since this second wizarding war was coming. She'd have to get over that fear soon.

Her mind wandered back to the memory of swordplay. Harry had built up some very lithe muscle swinging that piece of metal around. _Perhaps I should ask him to include me in a bit of that training, my ability to change how I look has no effect on my fitness whatsoever. I'm definitely fit but in duels I tire much quicker than I would like to._ Thoughts of facing the twelve year old boy with a sword concerned her. If he possessed the same level of skill with a sword that she had seen in the memory she'd be in for many sweaty hours of playing catch up. Then again those hours could be quite happy if she got to see the Harry from the future burst forth from the stunted little body he currently had. The sound of a chair at her desk being pulled out was missed, however the muffled thump of a body falling into said chair wrenched the witch from her reverie.

"Knut for your thoughts?" Next to her at the desk was her longtime friend, Alice Ackerman. This blonde girl was a fifth year from Tonks' own home town of Sheffield. As a child she was a lanky girl with a very light frame and long blonde hair flowing down past the middle of her back. Now as a young woman her hair fell well below her knees and the light frame of hers had gained some very feminine curves. Her pale skin was dotted with freckles and her eyes were a stunning green, _Oh god they look a lot like his!_ Shifting uncomfortably in her chair Nymphadora answered her friend.

"Thinking about something important." Tonks bit her bottom lip as she looked into her friend's eyes.

"I know that look Dora, you're thinking about a boy. Who is it? Michael Crawford?" Alice's grin had gone from one of general interest to that of the Cheshire cat. Tonks could even feel her friends very passive attempt at legilimency on her mind. Knowing she would not let it go Dora sighed.

"Harry Potter, and before you say anything else he helped me out last night." She brought the memory of her altercation with Scrimgeour and Selwyn to the front of her mind as well as the majority of the memory from the hospital wing. "I'll let you in to see how it happened, there will be no roaming around for anything else like when I was with Charlie Weasley last year." With that she allowed her friend's mental probe to pass her barrier to reach the memory. Several minutes passed until Alice flinched and her cheeks turned tomato red.

"He easily beat those two and with little magic used as well. I get it completely hun. This year little Harry Potter has started to get attractive, remember first day of classes when he came to breakfast with that soaked shirt clinging to his skin?" At this memory the blonde reddened some more and giggled unintelligibly.

"He's still just a twelve year old Alice. Neither of us should aspire to dating him until he ripens properly." _Not that I won't attempt to become a close friend before then though._ The now red haired seventh year turned back to her Potions notes and began to work on her revision.

* * *

The Gryffindor common room was nearly empty as most students were out in the grounds enjoying some of the last good weather before the Scottish winter had fully taken the school. Hermione was acting more like her old self once again by berating Harry the entire trip from the library for causing them to be kicked out. Oh, how he had missed this. After they had entered the common room the Boy-Who-Lived guided his best friend to her favorite set of cushy chairs to continue their debate on useful magic.

"'Mione you surely can't think every spell we ever learn is completely worth knowing. There is a spell for cleaning your teeth but we both grew up brushing our teeth and it seems to work better than the charm anyway." The raven haired boy was trying to appeal to his best friend's sense of logic, as it was one of the few things that could change her mind.

The brunette's mind was a war zone at the moment. On one side was her thirst for knowledge and against it was her loyalty to Harry. This year he had been strange, focused, and a bit of a show off with his magic. She had been trying nearly every day since that first transfiguration class, to no avail, to mimic his result. She was still missing something and after almost two months of research and avoiding both he and Ron she was done trying to emulate the success of others. Jealousy was originally what she felt for Harry's achievements and new drive but now she recognized it as him pushing himself like she had always done. Boys do tend to mature slower than girls after all. "If we're going to be tested on it we should learn the spells and be able to cast them at will. Though I agree that some cleaning charms aren't as effective as doing it yourself."

"That's the point I wanted to get across Hermione, the spells I've been reading up on are more focused on combat. After my encounter with Voldemort last June I feel that he will be back and when he returns I plan to be there so I can stop him and claim justice for my parents." Harry clenched his jaw and furrowed his brow. "When I stepped into that room with my wand the most I could have done was cast a tickling charm at Quirrell. That will not happen again." The Peverell heir slammed his fist into his chair's cushioned arm.

The brunette flinched at Harry's violent reaction. Ron and Hermione had been given the full story of Harry's encounter with Voldemort in Quirrell's body. She had been surprised at how Harry had managed to survive a second meeting with that monster. Her best friend and savior had killed a man all at the age of eleven. Was that driving him to become a violent person? "We all need to advance our skills and knowledge Harry. Is this why you've been pushing yourself so hard? To be ready for him?" Hermione's whole body shook at the thought of her Harry facing the darkest wizard of the age.

The Boy-Who-Lived still had a look of determination on his face when he replied. "Yes Hermione, I've been pushing myself to be magically strong and versatile so I can stop him and any of his followers still outside of prison." He made no mention of his new fitness routine though the brunette had noticed early signs of its progress. Harry's uniform was getting tighter in the chest, shoulder, and bicep regions at a speedy rate. By the end of term he may have to go get some new uniforms from Madam Malkin's.

Unnoticed by the two second years the portrait hole opened and in swept the Head of Gryffindor, Professor McGonagall. The stern witch was surveying the tail end of her two favorite students' conversation with great interest. So young Harry's increase in academic determination was solely to be prepared for the dark lord's return. She cleared her throat rather loudly, startling the two children. Miss Granger had fallen from her chair while mister Potter had leapt up, wand drawn and aimed at her. Once he saw it was her his arm dropped to his side. "Sorry about that Professor, I'm just a little bit jumpy today." The raven haired boy ran his empty hand through his hair.

"Its quite alright mister Potter. I am here to inform you that the Headmaster would like to speak to you in his office about a disciplinary matter." Harry surveyed the mature witch's face for a hint at her feelings and was disappointed to find the same mask of steel that betrayed no emotions he had always met. Stowing his wand in a belt loop he followed the Professor to and out of the portrait hole. The two walked in silence for a time until they reached the transfiguration teacher's office. She turned to the Peverell heir and made a sweeping motion. "You surely know the rest of the way to Professor Dumbledore's office. I will leave you here then." At this Harry turned his head to make eye contact with the stern witch.

"I would like to request that my Head of House be present for this meeting." The raven haired boy made sure his tone was one of the utmost respect, after all it would not end well if he had both the Headmaster and Deputy Headmistress displeased with him. The older witch seemed surprised. _Oh yeah, I didn't know anything about the school's rules or their fine print before fifth year._ Hopefully she'll just take this as part of my new studious demeanor. The moment of surprise passed and the transfiguration mistress turned back and continued on with him. A silence took them as they continued their march to the Headmaster's office. Once they reached the gargoyle McGonagall gave this year's password, sherbert lemon. The stone creature stepped aside to reveal the oh so familiar ascending circular staircase to the arguably most important room in the castle. The pair reached the door and before either could knock they heard the very clear sound of Albus Dumbledore's voice saying, "enter."

* * *

Hundreds of miles away, on an island constantly bombarded by storms and cold winds, stood a massive fortress. Windows too small for any human, dwarf, or goblin to pass through littered the sides of the structure, but strangely no doors graced its exterior. It occupied the majority of the rocky island's surface, its only competition a small guard shack sitting near a small dock. There was only one way on or off this island thanks to the facility's wards and the barriers mother nature herself had set on it. Were it not for magic the dock and guard shack would have been claimed by the sea years ago. The only way into this doorless keep was via a highly regulated portkey. This bit of magical transportation was altered by the Unspeakables from the Ministry of Magic to only respond to the magical signature of three of the locations twelve guards, making it impossible to steal the portkey and escape. After all, this was Azkaban, the highest security prison this side of the Atlantic Ocean.

Once inside the prison the buffeting wind was white noise compared to the screams of the facility's inhabitants. Over five hundred criminals, wizard and witch alike, were held inside and insanity had a tight hold on many, if not all, of these prisoners. The cause for this insanity is neither the weather nor is it the sheer number of wrongdoers in one place. No, it was them. Roaming the halls and delivering the meals of liquid bread were creatures of the utmost foulness. To any onlooker it would seem that they were men or women clad in dark tattered robes with their hoods drawn, but the reality was that these were dementors. A dementor is a creature of the utmost evil. They feed on the fears and pain of all creatures magical and non magical alike. Their bodies are a sickly greyish blue covered in scabs and, unlike humans, where there would be a nose, eyes, and ears there was only a mouth, oblong and filled with rotting teeth. These creatures caused chills in all that was within their range. A side effect of this is that those within their range relive their worst memories and, if they are a magical entity, have their magic severely limited. The darkest thing a dementor is capable of is using its nightmarish mouth to suck the very soul from a being. When this happens to a human, be they witch wizard or muggle they will all become another dementor. In nineteen eighty one, the ministry had performed a census and found there to be over two hundred of the foul creatures. By now, the numbers had grown by little more than half.

The soul eaters patrolled various areas of the prison at different rates based on the severity of the crimes committed by the prisoners. One patrol per day was the norm for the prisoners in the first two cell blocks. These criminals were serving less than ten years for misdeeds such as muggle baiting or memory charming muggles. The next cell block was fullest as it held the bulk of the dark lord Voldemort's Death Eaters. They were visited three times a day by the dementors and are the source of most screams inside the fortress. The fourth and final cell block was home to only seven wizards and one witch in the past two hundred years. Currently there was a single witch and wizard gracing this wing. The dark lord's two most faithful servants sat in adjacent cells and withstood seven patrols a day from no less than ten dementors.

The darkest witch in the last century, Bellatrix Lestrange, and the betrayer of the Potters, Sirius Black, lay exhausted from the last patrol of the day. The liquid diet and the lack of showers or grooming had led to Sirius resembling a vampire whose blood lust had driven him truly batty, and Bellatrix looked no better herself. Both being from the family of Black they had retained a modicum of their usual royal looks. No other prisoners could boast that they still resembled their pre-incarceration selves. Ragged breathing mixed with the sound of the wind and rain slapping against the stone of Azkaban. The magic draining effect of the dementors had weakened one of the most powerful witches in centuries so much that she could barely feel her magical core. These creatures had served her master well enough during the war but as soon as he disappeared they decimated the brunt of his forces. She had even been forced to relive her worst memories before fleeing to regroup with other inner circle members. That defeat in and of itself was one of her worst memories, though many of the others had become fuzzy over the last year.

 _This must mean I'm to die soon, yet why are my memories of my school years so clear?_ The bedraggled witch forced herself into a sitting position and drew in more haggard breaths. She could feel it coming, slowly the cold that being within one hundred meters of the dementors was fading as she grew numb. Half an hour passed before it happened. A surge of raw magic was discharged from her, ripping her already torn robes to tatters. She let out a scream of pure agony. It had finally broken! Memories surged to the fore of the witch's mind. The betrothal agreement between the houses of Lestrange and Black. Grandfather Cygnus binding her to the contract before she had even agreed to it. Being forced to follow Rudolphus into the den of lord Voldemort to swear allegiance and take his mark by her family's magic itself. And the pain, the searing, unbearable pain. Bellatrix screamed for what must have been hours. She had ended with coughing up blood from her damaged throat. She stumbled towards the minuscule window and worked her hands through the bars to collect rain water. after acquiring a sufficient amount she drew her now cupped hands in and drained the water from them. Tears flowed from her eyes and she relived her true worst memories. _She had fought against James and Lily!_ They hadn't been friends but they meant so much to darling Sirius, and she had nearly cut off James Potter's arm in a duel. They had been good people and she had nearly killed them so many times. Her chest heaved as she wept. A stirring could be heard somewhere near and finally she heard him.

"I haven't heard you cry since we were children." Sirius' voice sounded tender, but venom encroached upon his tone. "Did you finally realize that your master is dead and you'll get to rot here with your dear cousin until we both die?" Her cries only grew louder in her cell.

"M-m-magic Sirius. I never wanted to marry Rudolphus. Grandfather bound me to him using family magic. I never wanted to take the snake faced bastard's m-" Bellatrix gasped as she peered at her left arm where her dark mark was affixed. The mark had gone! The skin was bloodied and bruised but no magical ink in the shape of the skull and snake. "SIRIUS! Quick, look out your cell's window towards mine." The first and only female prisoner of the fourth cell block rushed to her window and forced both arms through the bars, baring the tender sides of her forearms in the direction of his cell. The sounds of her cousin's struggle to see her now clear arms were lost to the wind and freezing rain that dominated the exterior of the prison. The response once Sirius laid eyes on her forearms was electric.

"Merlin's massive, grey haired bangers! I thought the mark couldn't be removed once taken, and our magic after ten years in this hell is too weak to hide it." His breath was ragged but the earlier venom had fled his voice. "Bella, the only time I ever saw the dark mark leave a Death Eater was when I killed dear old Abraxus Malfoy two weeks before Voldemort disappeared. It went up in fiendfyre when I put him down with a piercing curse." Sirius was completely perplexed. He knew the Black family held many dark spells within its grimoire, but to think Cygnus used a will binding spell on Bella was unthinkable. _Was his family that dark?_ _Those fucking fools, using magic like that on a member of their own house!_ If he ever escaped this place he would take up the mantle of head of his house and destroy the blight upon his family that was the forced wedding between Bella and Lestrange. "Listen to me Bella, I didn't betray James and Lily, and we're going to get out of here and restore our house to its former glory!"

* * *

The door to the Headmaster's office swung open to display the tall, gray haired wizard wearing resplendent purple robes with gold starbursts on them. Albus Dumbledore had definitely begun to take a page from Gilderoy Lockhart's book on style. Harry tried to suppress a snort when he saw Snape in his usual darker than black robes and his hair as greasy as it ever was. The great bat of a man avoided making eye contact with The-Boy-Who-Lived, and rightly so. He obviously didn't want another trip down memory lane. A smile graced Dumbledore's face as he motioned towards a chair in front of his desk. "Please take a seat Harry." The old codger turned his head slightly towards the transfiguration mistress. "Minerva, thank you for seeing Harry here safely, you may go."

Minerva didn't budge a single inch. "Mister Potter has requested that his head of house be present for this meeting. I'd also love to know why he's here." If her little lion cub was to be questioned by Albus **and** that greasy double agent she wouldn't budge even an inch. She drew her wand and wordlessly conjured a magnificent wooden chair for herself to occupy. She took her seat and elegantly crossed her legs before nodding for Harry to take his seat and get on with this meeting. The raven haired boy took his proffered seat and crossed his own legs before staring intently at the headmaster's beard.

"Of course." Dumbledore looked pleasantly surprised. _Damn woman! Now I wont be able to use forceful legilimency on him_. As he worked over the different ways to get the boy alone the young man spoke up.

"May I ask why I've been summoned professor?" The Peverell heir folded his hands in his lap and prepared his limited magic for emergency defense of his mind. The elderly chap shook his head very slightly, as if disappointed at his grandson's misdeeds.

"Harry my boy, you are here today to discuss the altercation last night with misters Scrimgeour and Selwyn last night." Dumbledore paused for dramatic effect, hoping to see fear in the boy's eyes. His hopes were dashed as the green eyes he hoped would betray fear narrowed in anger.

"Just Selwyn and Scrimgeour? There was another person there sir, Nymphadora Tonks, and she was being coerced into something terrible by those two." His magic stirred with his fury, causing his chair to creak slightly. To say his magic reacting to his emotions surprised the Headmaster was an understatement. Minerva could even feel his magic pulsing around him. It wasn't an uncommon amount of magic for a second year student but it responded to his emotions so readily and well.

"Yes, miss Tonks was indeed involved, she has been reprimanded by Professor Sprout just as the remaining parties have been." His displeasure was clear as he locked eyes with the boy. Albus prided himself on his wandless legilimency as well as the lightest touch he applied it with but he simply got nothing even when making eye contact with the last Potter. "You are the only member of last night's activities yet to have disciplinary action levied against. I believe a week's detentions with Professor Snape would be appropriate for your aggressive attempt at pacifying two students, causing injuries to all four of you." He held a forlorn visage on his face but Dumbledore was grinning like a loon inside his mind's eye. This decision seemed to stir Professor McGonagall's well hidden temper.

"I would like to suggest that mister Potter serve his detentions with me if that would be preferable Albus." Allowing her to be here was going to put a damper on his schemes for the boy. Surely he could engineer a situation to get Harry alone in his office sooner or later. It would not do well to anger his Deputy Headmistress when the other two heads of house needed to turn any decision of his over were of a like mind with her. He sighed before putting his answer to words.

"Very well Minerva, you may handle his detentions starting tomorrow night. Now that we've handled the matter I believe we all have other places to be." With that, the old wizard waved them out with his hand. Harry and Professor McGonagall rose almost immediately and left the office in silence. They continued on as such until reaching her office again where she turned to him.

"I will see you tomorrow evening directly after dinner, you will be helping me with a few things." The emerald eyed boy maintained eye contact the entire time and a smile broke out on his face as she finished.

"Yes Ma'am. I will see you then." And the boy headed off, taking care to enter the common room quickly and cast tempus. It was now thirty minutes until curfew, he'd need to head over to the Room of Requirement with haste. He quickly went to the common bathroom and disillusioned himself as well as silencing his steps before heading out to find his cousin.

* * *

Rolling her revision notes for Potions back up, Tonks cast the tempus charm. It was time to head to her meeting with Harry Potter. She Headed quickly from the Badger's Den to the seventh floor, searching for the tapestry of Barnabus the Barmy. After finding it she cast tempus once more, seeing that is was now five minutes to curfew. "If that little wanker is trying to get me detention with filch I'll curse him into adulthood!" Suddenly a door appeared across the corridor from the ugly wall hanging. It was made from a dark heavy wood and banded with iron. The now orange haired teen strode to the door and opened it only to find a medieval armory behind it. "What the bloody hell is all of this for?" She had taken five or six steps in when the door slammed, causing her to spin around with her wand drawn. A sword was flying right at her! "Fucking hell!" She tried to dive out of the blade's path only for it to strike her at the shoulder, sending searing pain through it.

"Too slow Nymphadora." A soft voice crooned while she lay on the floor clutching her shoulder. And then he appeared. From nothingness came the raven haired Boy-Who-Lived, clad in knit shorts and a white tee shirt with trainers on. She flung a cutting hex at him from her place on the floor only to have it damage the shirt itself. He tilted his head to the left and sent her a quizzical look. "You know none of the weapons here can hurt you right? They're enchanted to not cut, but to convey the pain of the cut to you for training purposes." The metamorphmagus' eyes went wide as she looked at her shoulder to see it completely unharmed. Harry gestured and two comfy plush chairs appeared from nowhere just in time for him to take a seat in the one nearest him. "Let's get this training started cousin." She slowly rose and took a seat in the chair opposite him. _Payback time!_

"This is going to be along the lines of you and I attacking each others minds so get ready dearest cousin." They locked eyes as Tonks' hair lengthened and turned jet black before she cried out, "Legilimens!"

* * *

 **Ok folks, another chapter down and my writer's block conquered for the moment. Please leave a few reviews and I hope you'll continue this journey with me. I think I should be able to roll another chapter out fairly quickly so cheers.**


	7. Chapter 7: Redemption

**Friends, colleagues, assorted mother fuckers.**

 **I present to you the seventh chapter of Death's Power.**

 **Enjoy, or not, I'm not your boss.**

 ** _§ Parseltongue §_**

 ** _Thoughts_**

 ** _'mental communication'_**

 **I own only my original characters. Harry Potter and his world are the property of J.K. Rowling.**

Chapter Seven: Redemption

In a room hidden deep within Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry sat two men. One was the wizened form of Albus Dumbledore, elder wand twitching rhythmically as he lounged in his second office. "What do you think? Is mister Potter strong enough to present a threat to Lucius and his contingency of free Death Eaters?" Albus surveyed the sallow figure of Severus Snape closely, waiting for an answer from his most trusted adviser. The greasy haired potions master seemed to drown out the rest of the world while he thought, Albus knew better, though. Snape was reviewing the memory of their earlier encounter with the young wizard. Without opening his eyes the man replied in a slow, even tone.

"If that was his magic reacting naturally to his emotions and not a planned response he may be able to surprise Crabbe, Goyle, or MacNair at best and incapacitate them long enough for the Ministry to get involved." The pale man opened his eyes and stared directly into the piercing blue eyes of his master. There was no betrayal anywhere in his surface thoughts and even a bit of fear for the Boy-Who-Lived. It was to be expected after being forced to watch his beloved's demise at the hand of his previous master by the same boy. Severus continued on, "if the boy were to attain some skill with magical combat he may even be able to rid us of the weaker half of the remaining Death Eaters. It would be a blow to Voldemort that would limit his power initially when he finds a way to return to a corporeal form." Albus could see the sense in his most loyal servant's suggestion. Would Harry Potter's usefulness outweigh the trouble he could cause if he gained the appropriate combative skill, though? Rising from his plush chair, the Leader of the Light waved the elder wand to unlock this secret office's door.

"We shall see what happens with Gilderoy's proposed dueling club next week. Perhaps you should join him for the first night of his group and see about testing Harry's skill in a duel with our favorite junior Death Eater." Dumbledore laughed lightly as he opened the door and held it for Severus to exit through. The sallow man rose from his uncomfortably cushioned chair and swept from the room he only ever knew as Dumbledore's scheme room. Funnily enough most of his schemes centered around using the members of the "Light" faction of the Wizengamot to do his bidding or to see them debased as darkening. The old goat followed him out of the room, hastily shutting the door and casting complex notice-me-not and repelling wards on the door before enchanting it to resemble the stone wall to any who viewed it save himself. "For now, let's see how this week's staff meeting plays out." The pair set off for the second-floor staff room.

* * *

Potions notes, parchment rolls, and the standard book of spells lay under a halo of blonde hair. The dull roar of activity throughout the common room was putting the first-year Gryffindor to sleep while she waited on her best friend in the world. _What is he doing?_ It was five minutes to curfew and she hadn't seen Harry since Madam Pince chased both Hermione and him from the library earlier in the evening. The bushy haired brunette had arrived nearly half an hour ago and mentioned that the last Potter was taken to the Headmaster's office by their Head of House. Would it kill that boy to turn in earlier when he was going to be doing his training in that room?

Luna had even reached out as far as her mind could to try and locate her errant wizard to no avail. It had taken the pair two days to determine Luna was capable of reaching out and communicating with Harry if he was within fifty meters of her. Since then he had taken to actively remaining outside her range and sending one-way messages to her, especially in potions class. She had gotten a detention and lost thirty points for Gryffindor when he told her about the time in his third year a boggart assumed the greasy bat's form only to end up dressed as Madam Longbottom complete with the vulture hat. She had gotten the memory of the class from Harry that night and loved to relive it from time to time. The blonde was suddenly shaken from her reverie by none other than the raven haired boy she was waiting on. As he started to speak she jumped and nearly fell from her chair.

"You know Luna if you get lost in thought this often you'll get caught off guard by one of the Weasley twins' pranks eventually. I would hate to see that." His voice was firm yet kind like her father's had been before her mother's accident.

"The twins are not fond of how Ron behaved towards me so they leave me alone." She was proud that the only Weasley that seemed to dislike her was Ron now. She so enjoyed Fred and George's jokes.

"I'm sure they will eventually decide the time is ripe to give you a gentle ribbing my little moon." Every time he called her that she felt a warmth comparable to the love her mother had shown her.

"I think they won't try something until after the Christmas holidays." The noise level in the common room told her she would need to make her inquiries about Harry's meeting with the Headmaster and subsequent absence from the common room mentally. She focused briefly and found him before asking, _'did you just get back from the Headmaster's office? Hermione told me you were taken there by Professor McGonagall.'_ Harry chuckled lightly.

"That would be if they had plenty of other people to focus their energy on." Lifting his legs up and resting them on the very edge of the desk he and Luna were occupying. _'Yeah, had a meeting with the Headmaster where he tried to punish me for saving Tonks from two wankers last night.'_ Luna laughed serenely at the boy's joke.

"You know I could just sick them on you." Her grin was mischevious as always as she perused her Potions notes. _'Tonks? You mean that purple haired girl you were talking to at lunch? How did you save her?'_ Her curiosity had bled over from her mind to her actual expression as she studied. Inside Harry laughed at her concern about Tonks over him getting punished or being alone with Dumbledore.

"I think I'll just have a nice rest here while you study for the bat's class." The heir to the Peverell family folded his arms behind his head and stretched out. _'Yes her. I'll share the memory with you sometime. In short, I happened upon her being coerced by two other seventh year students for sex and I stopped them.'_ He could feel Luna's rage at the two idiots and her awe for him immediately. Rage even graced her face for a brief moment.

 _'And what kind of punishment was given to you?'_ She had clamped down hard on her rage but Harry could feel it still swelling beneath her mask of concentration. He closed his eyes and sighed.

 _'At first, a week's detention with Snape but McGonagall intervened so I'm serving them with her after dinner this week.'_ The fire that was raging within the little blonde calmed at the mention of their Head of House. _'After that bit of business, I stopped here briefly and went off to meet Tonks at the room of requirement. In fact, I'm still technically there we use the time turner in about three hours.'_ Curiosity and something Harry couldn't define burst within the mind of the young Lovegood.

 _'What did you two do for three hours alone in that room?'_ She bit her bottom lip and pushed back her emotions. The raven haired boy turned his neck to both sides, eliciting a crack each time.

 _'She is helping me learn legilimency. Her mother is Andromeda Black, the Black family is known for being a dark family as well as their prowess in the mind arts. Then I showed her my skill with the sword for a little bit.'_ He could feel her mind ease and the wall of emotion that had been building disintegrate. Silence fell between their minds to match the physical silence as the Boy-Who-Lived slipped into sleep and Luna continued to study for the test Snape was sure to surprise her class with soon.

* * *

Utter and absolute frustration was what Nymphadora Tonks was currently feeling. Nearly twenty minutes had passed since she first cast the spell to invade Harry Potter's mind and she had made negligible headway. With every little crack, she found it was much too thin for her legilimency probe to pierce through completely. _How is this even possible?_ Her mother was admittedly one of the best Occlumens in England and would falter under a mere ten minutes of enduring her daughter's assault. She had even tried assaulting The-Boy-Who-Lived's barriers with her own memories to no avail. She could wriggle into almost any mind when she tried. Throughout the process, her black tresses had been growing shorter and shorter until they were little longer than the boy's own hair.

Behind his mental barriers sat the raven haired heir to the Potter family. Since Tonks had cast the mind intrusion spell he had felt her mind batter and then deftly search his barricade for any cracks she could exploit. At first, the savior of magical Britain had paid rapt attention to his new tutor's attack, but after her battering ram approach failed and she resorted to more discreet methods he simply waited in the very center of his mind. Her attempt was not as forceful as the greasy bat's but her following ministrations were defter. Had Harry not spent a decade dueling one of the most prodigious wizards to ever live in both the mind arts and all the combative magic that seemed to exist she would have broken through his defense. Nearly half an hour had passed when the raven haired boy decided it was time to end this little exercise. With a focused mind, he drew the probe in with an almighty pull.

 _Success!_ She found a crack she could exploit for entrance to the mind of Harry Potter. As Nymphadora's probe drove into the crack in his barrier she felt a pull. _Oh shit!_ Suddenly she was standing in a castle, very unlike Hogwarts. It was smaller and more compact, yet there was a whole city surrounded by stone walls she recognized as the occlumency barriers she was trying to pierce not moments ago. Before her now stood the Harry Potter she had seen in the memories of his dealings with the grim reaper. _Oh, Morgana, he's attractive! Wait, stop that. He might hear this._ The young witch's probe changed to form a mental image of her body, complete with the short pink hair. The young man who's body was roughly her age made to bow in a theatrically pompous manner.

 _'Welcome, Nymphadora Tonks, to my mind. Exiting will be nearly impossible unless I allow you to do so and no magic works in here. Just watch,'_ he produced a wand and brandished it as he would a sword shouting, _' lacero!'_ Tonks recognized the spell as one of the various cutting curses that exist, yet it did nothing even with his wand pointed at her. Her jaw dropped comically. Even if those who achieved a mastery of occlumency could create a space to hold their memories like this, not even her mother could limit magic within the space.

 _'How?'_ was all the dumbstruck teen could say at this revelation. There was never a chance for her to break through his barriers. Seeing her expression a laugh shook his core. Once he was back under control his mental projection held out a hand for her probe. She took it warily and he led her into the keep. It was a lovely place. The stones were varying shades of granite and even some limestone. No doors were present here, just stone archways. _That can't be good for defense if anyone gets in here with malicious intent._ She was being led into the very heart of the keep by the boy five years her junior.

 _'And this is the throne room.'_ The emerald eyed man gestured around them at the sparsely decorated stone room. _'It is where I review my memories and punish those that try to break into my mind.'_ The feral grin on his face during the second half of the statement brought a very real fear to the front of the metamorphmagus' mind. Noticing her discomfort he quickly backtracked, _'Snape is the only one who has been punished here. You are not in any kind of danger within my mind Nymphadora.'_ Tonks' mental representation harrumphed at the use of her given name.

 _'Once we're back in our chairs you are paying for that Harry.'_ Her hair had taken on the darkest shade of red the Peverell heir had ever seen. He merely barked out a laugh.

 _'Let's get to it then, Miss Tonks.'_ A great push was felt and suddenly she was back in her cushioned chair with a thin sheen of sweat permeating her body. Across her sat a pristine if not stiff Harry Potter. He swept up from his chair and moved to the walls of the armory room selecting two swords of middling length. "Would you prefer to try attacking me with a sword or with magic? I think you'd be at a heavy disadvantage using a sword but you never know, Bellatrix was rather handy with a knife. Maybe it's a Black family trait." The raven haired boy laughed a bit as Tonks drew her wand. "Perhaps it's just her then." He returned one of the blades to the wall and focused on his need for a few of his sword fighting automatons. They sprung into existence surprising the now raven haired woman.

"What the bloody hell are these things?!" Her surprise was understandable but Harry smiled at the fact that she had her wand drawn and angled to defend herself from the new additions to the room. Her eyes darted between the three currently docile manikins, searching for the faintest glimmer of hostility to justify blowing them apart.

"Training dummies. You don't think it would be fair fighting me one on one do you?" The grin that crossed the face of the Boy-Who-Lived was full of mirth and confidence. Immediately the dummies began assaulting the young man. The manikins and Harry were moving with fluidity and grace as their blades clashed. The studious woman watched as the young man's defense was assaulted by the three foes to no avail. He wasn't kidding, fighting him one on one would be the height of stupidity. Seeing the young man turn his back to her then stand firmly, deflecting blows and returning, even more, it seemed to the dummies. Seeing her chance she gathered her wits and perused her mind for an appropriate spell to incapacitate the young wizard. Jabbing her wand forward with a twisting motion she yelled out.

"Locomotor Mortis!" Her spell should make this little fight a very short one. The leg locker jinx would have hit home and ended the fight had Harry not been warned by her incantation. The boy with raven hair spun to his knees while swinging his blade in a similar fashion, cutting through the legs of his wooden enemies. The manikins were down for the count and now the Boy-Who-Lived turned to Tonks with that same feral grin plastered on his face.

"You shouldn't telegraph your strategy by yelling the incantation at me." He maneuvered the sword lazily in his hand as he ambled closer to the black-haired witch. "You're a seventh-year student and presumably already of age in our world yet you aren't casting silent spells at me. That's a waste of your advantage over me." Bringing the blade up to point at her throat, Harry continued his approach. Suddenly six manikins appeared around him. _Shit! She figured out how to use the room._ The half dozen sword wielding automatons converged on him, swinging wildly at his body. A mighty swing parried three blows as they fell while Harry yelled out, "expulso, everte statum, expelliarmus!" The pointer finger of his off hand was the focus through which the spells were flung at the three manikins still mid swing. As the spells hit their targets the first manikin was blown to bits, the second was thrown far into the stone wall, and the third had it's blade flung from its hands. Tonks dropped to her knees, mouth agape as she watched the boy defend against such stilted odds. How was she supposed to ever catch up to someone like this? Suddenly, the Boy-Who-Lived dropped to the floor, hand still clutching the sword tightly.

"What the hell?!" Tonks banished the manikins with a thought and rushed to the boy's side, checking him for a pulse. Her pointer and middle finger found the correct spot on his neck and she held them there until she felt the throb of his lifeblood flowing through him gently. "What's wrong with you Harry?" The face she stared down upon had a content look on it but still she worried. Had he pushed himself so far past his limits with just three spells? They were lower year dueling spells all of them, the exploding hex being the most complex as it was taught in the sixth year Defense class. The air became frigid. Nymphadora could feel a pressure on the back of her eyes as a new voice broke her mumbled queries to the unconscious teen.

"Young mister Potter has overextended his magic and is now experiencing exhaustion." The voice caused Tonks to jump and turn towards the source. As her currently black eyes met the palest blue in existence she felt a shiver run down her spine. It was him. A skeletal man in a midnight black suit stood five meters away from the pair of magical beings. With an open-handed wave the figure continued, "Harry should be fine after a few hours of rest. He needs to avoid overexerting himself magically until his core heals from the ritual or he could actually die and, sad as I would be to do it, I would have to take his soul to the other side with me permanently."

The grim reaper fell back as a throne of bones materialized under him. "I assume your shocked silence means that he told you who I am, perhaps he even showed you." The teen had to muster all her courage to nod to the cosmic entity lounging in front of her. "Allow me to formally introduce myself, young lady. You may call me Joe, I am in charge of all the souls who pass from this mortal plane and on to the next one. If I abhor anything it is those who seek immortality like the fool you call Voldemort has done. According to Fate, Harry is linked to the foolish dark lord and is capable of ending his life." Tonks gasped at this bit of news. Harry had never told her he was destined to fight you-know-who like this. A grin revealed the slightly yellow teeth of the grim reaper.

"Yes, much has been thrust upon a child whose life has been fraught with abuse and manipulations. Time means nothing to a being such as myself, so I have observed the life of Harry Potter twelve times before this instance of it and he has perished needlessly every time. The last time he had nearly achieved his goal too. Of the dark fool's tethers to life, only one remained when Tom Riddle claimed his own. So I have trained him as he showed you last night because I want nothing more than to have a few eons alone with Voldemort to express my distaste for his actions." An audible gulp could be heard from Tonks as venom crept into Joe's tone at the end of his last statement. The imposing figure stood once more and as the throne vanished he straightened the lines of his suit.

"Now that you have the abridged story of why this young man has been singled out by my kind, I will bid you both adieu." He took a few steps towards the back of the room before halting and turning back to the scared teen. "Oh, I forgot one thing. When he wakes from his slumber remind him that I will be most displeased if he dies before he delivers Riddle to me. He knows how badly my displeasure can feel. Goodbye, young miss, I doubt we will meet again so soon." Flashing another yellowed smile at her the tall figure disappeared, taking the frigid cold with him.

"Oh Morgana, what have I gotten myself into?" The teenage witch lamented as she sat next to her charge.

* * *

The wet slap of flesh on stone rang out countless times. His knuckles were raw and bloodied from the numerous collisions. This was the only way to vent his frustrations over Bella not being in tune with her inner animal. You would think a warrior as ferocious as her would be able to tap into her inner creature, but then again he had no clue just how much of the Bella he had fought countless times a decade ago was the will binding and how much was the cousin he went to school with. Sirius swore as he observed the broken and bloody skin of his knuckles. In the cell next to him Bella was, in an over exaggerated manner, trying to connect with her inner animal via meditation. He heard an almighty sigh followed by his cousin exclaiming.

"Sirius! I got it! I got it I got it I got it!" He could hear her bounding around her cell for a few moments in what was unmistakably a victory dance. "You may be a bloody great dog but my inner animal is the majestic Harpy Eagle." She laughed maniacally. "Though you'd be better in a fight transformed. I would be a liability or at best a distraction." Sirius barked out his own laugh at this.

"Padfoot only helps if I'm in close quarters or need to track someone stealthily. Your form would be useful for tracking as well as battle in the open or even aerial." He barked out a laugh of his own before poking fun at his cousin. "And here I thought Cissy was always the bird brain of our family." The growl he heard from Bella's cell was feral as she retorted.

"You know damned well that if my will was bound hers was to that bastard Malfoy. We have to help her!" She was working herself into a frenzy when she felt the cold of the dementors pressing closer to their cells. "Quick Sirius, they're coming!" She returned to a corner of her cell and curled up to weather the cold. Sirius simply laid down in the center of his cell and let Padfoot's consciousness take over to dull the cold wave approaching him.

* * *

"Harry! Wake up!" A startled and literally shaken Boy-Who-Lived fell from the seat he had dozed in into one of the many rugs lining the Gryffindor common room's stone floor. As emerald eyes darted to and fro to find the source of his abrupt departure from the world of dreams only to settle on the brown eyes of Ronald Weasley. He looked to be a mix of terrified about causing such a violent reaction in Harry and bursting out in laughter at the exuberance of the reaction he'd just witnessed.

"Ron?" The raven haired boy had to gather his thoughts quickly to stop his reflex of hurling his favorite combination of cutting and bludgeoning curses at his friend. He rolled to his feet with some grace before facing the red head. "Well, this is new. To my knowledge, you haven't spoken to anyone for a few weeks. What makes you want to talk to a scar headed git like me?" This made Ron flinch and look down in guilt. Silence reigned in the Gryffindor common room. It was nearly a whole minute before he blurted out with a shaky voice.

"I'm sorry. I let my hot temper get the best of me before I even saw how Luna interacted with the rest of our house. Can you forgive me for acting like a bloody git?" Ron's eyes had not stopped inspecting his shoes through his whole statement and he was visibly shaking. Obviously, the past two weeks had taken its toll on the youngest male Weasley. His heart went out to Ron. His little stunt with Luna had marked him as the cowardly lion of the pride. The Peverell heir turned to find Luna gazing at this altercation with wide eyes. After a careful survey of the common room, Harry noticed that all eyes were drawn to him once again.

"I can and will forgive you," the boy's brown eyes shot up to meet the green eyes of Britain's savior. "You must apologize to Luna before I will do so. That is my one and only condition Ron." A faint dusting of red tinted the young wizard's cheeks as he turned abruptly to face the blonde in question.

"Will you forgive me for being a right bloody prick, Luna?" Laughter erupted throughout the room as two very clear sounds of indignation came from Percy Weasley and Hermione pierced it. Luna had laughed so hard she fell from her chair in a very unladylike manner, only adding to the uproar of the lion's den. As the little blonde was rising from the floor the most wonderful smile graced her face.

"If you truly seek forgiveness who am I to deny you?" A smile grew on the red head's face that quickly reached the intensity of the sun as he approached the blonde and held out a hand in friendship. She took it and shook heartily. Harry quickly moved behind the pair and slapped Ron's back with his left hand as he ruffled Luna's golden mane with his right.

"Now that that's settled, I think it's time to hit the hay. If I fell asleep watching a pretty girl study I must be dead tired." Harry chuckled at the wide-eyed and flustered look Luna gave him as he walked to and up the staircase leading to the boy's dorms. Many of the upper years including a certain pair of gossip-happy second years failed to miss the young Lovegood's eyes wistfully following the Boy-Who-Lived up the stairs.

* * *

That night he dreamt of battle. Not of any battle with Voldemort or his death eaters, but of the training with Joe.

 _The two had been at it for what felt like seven years, blades clashing, flesh being rent, and pain filling every fiber of his being. He had made so little progress at learning the art of the sword that frustration was mounting within him. No matter how fast or deft he had become Joe was always better. Well, he had been around since the dawn of time so it was to be expected. Every now and then Harry would think he'd gotten lucky and strike at a perceived weak point only to be rebuffed thoroughly and receive a great wound from the reaper. Harry's muscles tensed as he brought his blade down with all the speed and strength he possessed only for it to be batted aside with the hilt of Joe's own sword. The following strike had split Harry from shoulder to navel. The pain was all consuming until mere seconds after receiving the blow he was whole once again. Fed up with this constant, hellish torture he flung his blade at the Joe. The normally indifferent face of death incarnate warped into a scowl of utmost hatred as he deflected the projectile. His rage shook the Ether as his voice thundered, "YOU INSIGNIFICANT PARASITE! IT HAS ONLY BEEN SEVEN YEARS AND YOU'RE ALREADY GIVING UP?! I WILL SHOW YOU TRUE PAIN. AGONY WILL BE A SWEET PLEASURE WHEN I AM DONE WITH YOU." The sword Harry had thrown in frustration had appeared in Joe's off hand. The reaper descended upon the Boy-Who-Lived and proceeded to carve him like a Christmas turkey, over and over again. The hellish pain he had felt so far in his training paled in comparison to this torture. All he could do was scream in utter anguish as his flesh and muscle were parted from his bones. It felt like years had passed while this continued. Finally, Joe finished with his last foray at carving him before calmly sitting back on his summoned throne of bones. As Harry healed he looked up at the reaper with a questioning glance. Joe merely planted the sword in front of him and asked in a calm almost detached voice, "are you ever going to throw your only weapon in a fight again?" He quickly shook his head as fast as he could, causing death to laugh. "I figured three years of that would be enough to grind that particular lesson into you boy." The reaper stood and brandished his blade again. "Now let's continue from where we last left off mister Potter."_

The raven haired boy woke suddenly, covered in a cold sweat and clutching various parts of his torso to assure he was intact. _Fuck I hate that dream!_

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	8. Chapter 8: The Plot Thickens

**Good news everyone! It has been but a month and I'm releasing another chapter of my, and hopefully your, somewhat favored fanfiction. I will warn that shit does indeed get crazy near the end of the chapter so I'll mark before the scenes. It will be graphic, like Law & Order SVU graphic ladies and gents. So if you don't want to read that be warned.**

 ** _§ Parseltongue §_**

 ** _Thoughts_**

 ** _'mental communication'_**

 **I own only my original characters. Harry Potter and his world are the properties of J.K. Rowling.**

 _Chapter Eight: The "Plot" Thickens_

Albus and Severus ambled into the staff room to find the remainder of the professors already seated in cushioned oak chairs that matched the table they surrounded. Light chatter gave way to silence as the headmaster took his seat and with a slightly raised voice called the meeting to order. "Now, my friends and colleagues, what important events have occurred in the past week of your adventures in instructing the youth of our magical nation?" Severus held in a hearty scoff at Albus' choice of words. He knew well that not a single person in this room was a friend to Albus Dumbledore. No, they were all his subordinates who informed him of any exceptional witch or wizard that he would most likely keep an eye on until an opportunity made itself known to bring them under his influence. Severus himself had been one of the students to fall to this tactic before he even joined the dark lord. _Oh well, time to hear the news of future lackeys for the light._ Professor Sprout was first to open the discussion.

"Harry Potter has proven to be more vocal about his answers in my subject. Of my second year students, he leads the pack with Neville Longbottom, Daphne Greengrass, Hannah Abbot, and Hermione Granger hot on his heels." Minerva had a smug look on her face as she noted three of her lions were proving intelligent in the dumpy professor's subject. Severus was pleased that the Greengrass heiress was close to leading the pack as well. Pomona continued, "of my first years, miss Lovegood has proven knowledgeable if eccentric. Mister Hamm has proven to be the breakout leader as his father supplies a third of Diagon Alley's potion ingredients with his extensive greenhouses. Of My upper years, the Weasley twins continue to hide their brilliance while they sneak cuttings of my plants for unknown reasons while their brother Percy is top of my class over all the years." _So the blood traitors were at least good for attending to plants._ Filius picked up where Sprout left off.

"There are ten students total I'd like to mention for their skills with charms. The list is as follows; Nathaniel Pince, Fred and George Weasley, Nymphadora Tonks, Hermione Granger, Theodore Nott, Stephen Yaxley, Harry Potter, Percy Weasley, and Ginevra Weasley." The grin adorning Minerva's face now was unbearable as her lions swept this subject too. Severus grinned inwardly as he knew most of his snakes held back in both charms and defense classes at the orders of their parents. He had informed his fellow acquitted death eaters of the Headmaster's tendency to manipulate their children if they were outwardly brilliant. Next was the lioness herself who grinned, obviously, her list would include many of her own pride.

"I've mentioned Harry's newfound prowess already. The others who are talented in the art of transfiguration are miss Abercrombie, mister Davies, the misses Patil, mister Goldstein, and miss Clearwater." So the ravens were leaders in the field aside from his clutch. It was finally his turn to list the only students that weren't incompetent at his art. The sallow man stood and intoned in a mechanical manner.

"My house in its entirety is gifted in my subject. The other few who aren't dunderheads are the know it all Granger, the intelligent Patil, misters Selwyn and Scrimgeour, and finally the changeling." he ground out the last word, clearly intending to insult Nymphadora Tonks as a half-blood with one of the rarest magical traits. This drew scowls from most of the staff save for Albus. As he took his seat, Severus retreated into his mind and began devising new ways to torture the five who were skilled in his art but fell into different houses. Alas, it was not meant to be as the door to the chamber burst open suddenly. The blonde ponce Lockhart's absence had gone unnoticed for a glorious fifteen minutes but now it was time for the Gilderoy Sodding Lockhart show.

The ponce in question straightened out his robes before smiling that damned glittering smile at the group before him. "Albus! I thought we were going to be meeting concerning my dueling club in your office." The man shook his head in an infuriating way, "so who will be my assistant on that wonderful day and throughout the remainder of my tenure here?" You could hear the gathered professors flinch, worried that their amazing "leader" would force the hell of dealing with Gilderoy's ineptitude on them. Severus could feel his occlumency slipping with his rage at having to deal with this utter moron. Rising slowly Snape declared that he would join him for the dueling club meetings. Lockhart looked elated, "excellent my good man! Don't worry I shall hold back when demonstrating my skills to the students."

* * *

Shaking and coated in sweat from reliving one of his least pleasant memories, Harry Potter grasped his wand from his bedside table and cast a silent tempus spell. It was half past five in the morning; no point in returning to sleep when his routine would have him up in an hour anyway for his morning run. He quickly took care of his morning rituals and left the common room clad in his sweatpants, plain shirt, and trainers. Maybe I should go and have a chat with Ouroboros before my morning run. After all, I can talk to him now about what kinds of rituals are available to choose from for my body. With a true destination set, he checked around the corridor he was in to be sure that no portraits could see him before casting the all too familiar disillusionment and silencing charms on himself. _Damned magical portraits being able to abscond their frames and relay messages to others._ The path to the chamber of secrets was, as expected, free of interlopers. Upon entering the girl's bathroom he called out _§ open §_ followed quickly by _§ stairs. §_ The last Potter quickly traversed the stairs and noted in passing that Ouroboros had to be bored if he had cleaned the stairs to the entrance by now. As he passed the entrance to the chamber proper he noticed the king of the snakes swimming in his natural form around the statue of Salazar. Not one to resist a good temptation Harry called out.

 _§ Aww! Who's an adorable thousand-year-old snake? It's you my little world eater. §_ The king of serpents was taken by complete surprise and...yelped. That's right, a massive bloody serpent yelped and it was oddly endearing. The raven haired teen was reduced to rolling around laughing uncontrollably as Ouroboros changed back to his human form and quickly clad himself in his natural armor. The novelty of a hysterically laughing master wore off and the king of serpents threw one of his daggers at the boy. A loud cry was heard as the blade sunk into the arse cheek of the Boy-Who-Lived. _§ What was that for you big fucking garden hose?!_ _§_ Now it was the time for a man clad in his own skin as armor to laugh.

 _§ I was not expecting you until Saturday._ _§_ Boros' human form had flushed in embarrassment. _§ Master Slytherin made me promise before he died to find enjoyment in my life. I enjoy a good soak in the pool every now and then._ _§_ He shrugged a bit before continuing, _§ the dagger was my reaction to you surprising me. I wouldn't suggest doing that again or you could gain more than a wound on your arse._ _§_ Harry pulled the blade from him and muttered a wandless healing spell. As his skin knitted itself back together he felt the drain and became a bit wobbly.

 _§ You know I'm magically weak right now._ _§_ Rubbing his newly healed bum with his right hand, the Boy-Who-Lived flung the dagger back at its owner. _§ At least take this back you damned reptile._ _§_ The blade flew true towards the snake man, however, he nimbly caught the projectile between his middle and ring fingers.

 _§ You should strike from the shadows young master, not head on._ _§_ Boros stowed his dagger away and sat cross-legged in front of the young man. _§_ _Now, what would you like to talk about? It's far too early to even consider performing another ritual as your magical core has had barely a full day to begin to refill. §_ Harry sat on the stone floor, mirroring his elder's position.

 _§ I would like to know what kinds of rituals do you know of that are permanent._ _§_ Running a hand through his matted hair, he half smiled at the yellow eyed man. _§_ _If it's at all possible I would like to see to correcting the years of malnutrition I've suffered at the hands of my dear aunt and uncle. I wouldn't mind fixing my eyes either, but what else can we achieve through blood rituals?_ _§_ A maniacal smile graced the face of Boros and for a full minute, they sat in silence.

 _§ Well, Master, bringing your body to the peak of its potential health is quite simple and will correct your eyes as well. The glasses will be a detriment to any sustained combat you incur._ _§_ He chuckled darkly before continuing, _§ Master Slytherin wished for any Heir I deem worthy to undergo two rituals whose purpose I can only guess at._ _§_ His grin had grown even larger if possible, which told Harry he knew exactly what the rituals would accomplish.

 _§ No clues whatsoever as to what they accomplish?_ _§_ He pleaded.

 _§ The only clue I can give is that Master had performed them early in his life and only ever gave me the diagram and ingredients list for them._ _§_ The aged creature leaned his head from side to side, cracking his neck, before rising to his feet. _§_ _In any case, the two rituals must be performed next and require nearly six months of down time before the next ritual can be attempted._ _§_ Boros offered Harry his hand, which was gladly taken, to aid his rise from the stone floor of the chamber.

 _§ So I will need to return on Sunday for the two mandatory rituals then the next one can only be attempted in May?_ _§_ The basilisk in human form simply nodded, his smile pulled back into a subdued one. _What could require so much damned recovery time? Wait he didn't say recovery time, just that another ritual can't be performed for half a year. That's definitely odd._ The young wizard cast a quick tempus spell and saw it was nearly time for his morning exercise. He quickly said his goodbyes and ran up to the chamber's entrance before concealing himself once more. He let the charms drop when he reached the corridor with The Fat Lady's portrait and left for the grounds, causing just enough noise to be noticed by the portraits in the halls until he left the castle altogether for his morning run.

* * *

Night had fallen on the stately manor in Wiltshire. The grounds took on a sinister yet beautiful demeanor with the albino animals roaming the expansive land of Malfoy manor. With a soft pop, A figure clad all in black appeared and began heading for the main gate. As it reached the wrought iron fixture the stranger simply waved his right hand and passed directly through it as if it were made of smoke. A loud call startled the figure and like a whip, they brandished a wand and sent a bolt of sickly green at the source of the noise. A peacock fell dead from the top of the hedge, eliciting a deep chuckle from the figure. "Leave it to old Lucius to have such queer animals roaming his place."

Three more cracks of apparition were heard and the man waited for the rest to join him before continuing his journey. Two massive cloaked figures approached with a smaller one to the left of them. There was no mistaking who the three were at all as the first man spoke.

"Well if it isn't Lucy's favorite hexing dummies. Crabbe, you're looking older than last time we met. Goyle, you seem and stoic as ever. And who could this be?" The first man waved his wand and a slight wind tore the hood from all four men's heads. The smallest of the four had a very damaged face, surely caused by a serious case of dragonpocks in his teens, and a short crop of salt and pepper hair. The first man, A dirty blonde with battle scars adorning his face growled out a laugh. "Ah, it's Selwyn the Marked." Nearly half a minute passed before Crabbe and Goyle chuckled stupidly at the nickname their companion had gained years ago. Selwyn's brow furrowed and he bared his teeth.

"Good to see you again, Rabid Hound Macnair." The two massive dunderheads seemed to pale a little at hearing the fourth man's title. Macnair only grinned at the use of his given name.

"The name the Dark Lord graced me with is a badge of honor Archimonde. Maybe if you had done more than kill your way to owning the Knockturn Alley Brothel our Master would have given you a better name." Another growling laugh escaped the form of Walden Macnair as Selwyn turned purple with rage. At that moment, a beaten little elf appeared with a loud crack and announced they were late and would be punished if they missed the meeting. After kicking the elf a few times, the men followed it up to the manor proper and were greeted by the lady of the house. Narcissa smiled and waved them towards the office Lucius had set up on the second floor of the building.

The four entered the office to find the other ten members of the FDE, the Free Death Eaters, sitting around a beautiful walnut table with Lucius Lord Malfoy at the head sipping a glass of wine. Seeing them, He set his drink down and rose. "Ah, the last of our contingent has arrived. Now we can discuss the reason for our meeting tonight." The blonde lord allowed the late attendees take the seats without occupants before continuing, "I have been informed of a dire matter recently. Apparently, on the ride to Hogwarts, the Brat-Who-Lived accosted my son as well as his guards Crabbe and Goyle without magic." A strained silence filled the room before a stout woman asked.

"The child is but twelve and hardly larger than the girls his age. How is it possible that he knocked out Crabbe and Goyle...and of course the young heir Malfoy?" Alecto Carrow was highly confused. Harry Potter was so small and scrawny that her daughter had even informed her that she refused to seduce him as told, and Hestia Carrow rarely refused her mother. Lucius, the de facto leader of the Free Death Eaters, merely growled and dropped into the head seat heavily.

"Draco was not very descriptive in his retelling of the event as he was the first of the three knocked unconscious." The platinum blonde man leaned forward, clasping his hands together before finishing, "from what else my Heir has mentioned the boy is making a point of showing his skills in all the subjects he's partaking in. Transfiguration and Potions are his greatest classes so far as our friend Severus has been floored by his brews as they are of the highest quality he has seen in years." This was unsettling for the Death Eaters with children in Hogwarts. Snape had almost always favored their children and browbeat all the mudbloods, half-bloods and blood traitors into failing. This was how their little group had been gaining more power and wealth since the fall of the Dark Lord. The only Potions NEWT and mastery holders were either purebloods, sympathizers to their cause or the others who were truly gifted with work ethic and skill in the art. Finally, Macnair was the one to voice the concerns of the raiding members of the assembled wizards and witches.

"He's still just a boy, yes? Why not visit his little safe haven at Privet Drive and burn the place to the ground? Surely then the ministry will fear us as they still fear the Dark Lord." Murmurs of assent were heard around the table, but Selwyn and Malfoy seemed to think otherwise. The one called The Marked beat their leader to the punch, though.

"What you've overlooked, Rabid Hound is that for the decade since our Master's fall we have profited more than before and during the war. The false sense of security the Ministry has been lulled into since then has allowed us the time to bribe the right officials, indoctrinate the right children, and most importantly to bring the fortunes of the families our brethren wiped out into our clutches. Mainly the Prewett and McKinnon fortunes. The other blood traitors were of minor houses and brought us less altogether than these two houses individually." Some of the more cunning Death Eaters were nodding in satisfaction at their current state of wealth and power. "Killing the boy now would just give the Ministry a reason to start sniffing around and with the illegal natures of our respective business ventures, many of us may find ourselves at home with our brethren in Azkaban if that were to occur."

The Rabid Hound looked like Christmas had just been canceled. He loved his job killing wild beasts for the Ministry but craved the feeling of parting human flesh with his ax once more. "Fine, but you should all know that when Master returns, make no mistake he will abhor this blasted cloak and dagger style of existence you have all been pushing since his...departure." The gathered Death Eaters flinched at the idea of their Master returning. Only Lucius, Macnair, and Bellatrix had been privy to knowing that their master had ensured his spirit would not leave this world, but most of the free Death Eaters were basking in the freedom of not being tortured for perceived failures by their barely human master. Lucius banged his fist on the hard wood of the table, causing the assembled witches and wizards to focus on him.

"Both of you are partially right." The Lord of Malfoy's voice gained a deadly calm. "We must remain above the scrutiny of the Ministry but we can't allow the boy to upset our hard fought supremacy from the shadows." Both Selwyn and Macnair seemed pleased by this compromise, but their smiles grew larger as Lucius brandished his wand and brought in their evening's entertainment, four muggle women, and three muggle boys all under twelve. "I have arranged for some terrible happenings at Hogwarts this year and to celebrate I thought we would comport ourselves as we would after a successful raid. Enjoy, my faithful friends." Instantly muttered phrases of devious acts soon to be visited upon the muggles filled the room. Macnair had already risen and grabbed the youngest woman by the throat, nearly dragging her off to the play rooms Lucius had around the manor. Others made moves on the remainder until Selwyn was sharing the last boy with the Carrows and Nott brothers.

* * *

 **Warning: Shit About To Go Down**

Blood burned through his veins as he ripped the cloak from the girl. _It's time to get what the world owes me!_ This corridor was just perfect for it. Devoid of paintings in favor of tapestries that weren't magical in any way. He had even managed to be wearing his dark blue cloak to avoid being easily identified if someone stumbled upon them. The girl was a Slytherin, her green tie, and trim on her torn robes the most obvious indicators. What had drawn him to her was the deep black hair and her pale skin. The upturned nose did not detract from her beauty, but it gave him an odd vision of a very ugly breed of dog he'd seen muggles keep. She had come to him for some inane reason like a low score on a test but he was practically starving for attention.

A powerful confundus charm had left her unable to refuse him, but quite able to stand on her own. He did hate it so when all the burden of work fell to him. He worked at the knot of her tie for a full minute before simply severing it with his wand. With that barrier out of the way, he ripped her vest and shirt apart to reveal her pert and perky twelve-year-old breasts. Another quick severing charm and the cloth that formerly served as her skirt fell to the ground worthless. Her cute little panties had the crest of her house adorning them but he quickly ripped the material from her, eager to see his prize. Oh goodness, not a single hair on her. Perfection! He began working his fingers all around the virgin core of Pansy Parkinson, even going as far as to sink his middle finger into the untouched depths, verifying that he would indeed be taking her maidenhead. The girl managed to make a throaty sound of displeasure at the use her body was receiving.

"Now now dear, it will all be over soon. Just an hour or two of ruining this beautiful little cunt and I will leave you for the elves to find in the library." She continued to grunt in protest but the charm on her was too strong to allow any other act of defiance. Finally giving up, he fumbled for his wand again and cast a lubrication charm on her. The feeling was so very odd. It was wet but more viscous than when she wet herself as a child. His finger intruded again, working the fluid around inside her until he brightly said, "Perfect! Now we see how your little cunny handles a grown man's cock."

A zipping sound was heard and with magically dazed eyes she beheld her first penis, already erect in anticipation of invading her core. It was a peculiar thing, she thought, if it weren't for the fact that she didn't want this she would have found it quite appealing. Six inches of length ending in a bulbous tip rubbed against her stomach as the man plunged his tongue into her mouth. His hands grasped at her budding breasts and tweaked her nipples as they began to harden. _She may not be a woman yet but at least her body knows how to respond to me_. A moan of pleasure filled their mouths as the girl's body couldn't ignore the stimulation any longer. He suddenly parted from her lips and turned her around, slapping her thin ass and bending her over to prepare for the main event. She felt something spongy rubbing against her entrance and finally a great thrust filled her core. As her maidenhead was torn she screamed, stars burst into color behind her closed eyes.

He felt the most pleasant clamping on his member. _Oh, Merlin! virgins are the best_. His thrust had torn her hymen but being so young he was filling her rather nicely. In an hour she'd be left ruined for boys until she was an adult proper. His hands grasped her side roughly as he began to pound wildly into the tightest pussy he'd had in a year, eliciting more screams from the annoying little second-year girl. "Oh hush girl, I'm doing you a kindness." He said between pumps, "being a Slytherin you'd have gotten this treatment at the latest next year. I'm just sampling the fruit at its ripest stage before all the worms get to it." As frenzied as the man was his hood was beginning to slip revealing his hair color. A full ten minutes passed before he emptied himself inside the Parkinson bitch. Still pleased with deflowering a pureblood heiress, he decided she could do with a good buggering too. The tight hole directly above the now abused pussy looked so inviting. Another quick lubrication charm would see to this being easy on him. As he guided the head of his cock into the virgin asshole of young miss Parkinson she screamed like a banshee, her sudden jerking movement burying his full length in her ass. The screams only seemed to magnify from this and the sound of shoes on stone could be heard near the end of the secluded corridor.

"Shit, quiet down you little bitch. Silencio!" Immediately her voice was silenced as the charm took effect. The absence of her screams made the sound of footsteps coming easier to follow. If he had to take a guess it was a student ambling around. Probably an ickle firstie lost on the way to their common room. He kept plunging into the girl's depths, enjoying the tightness her untouched ass provided for its first invader. He was again nearing release when he heard a bestial yell.

"YOU!"

 **Shit Over, For Now**

* * *

Classes had passed quite well after his run and breakfast. It wasn't until after lunch that the black haired teen remembered he would be serving "detention" every night of the week with his favorite transfiguration mistress. That did dampen his mood throughout the afternoon's classes with the Slytherins and Hufflepuffs. Apparently, news had traveled about the Boy-Who-Lived's week of detention for being out of bounds after curfew, very few knew the whole tale, though. He didn't doubt for a second that he would have more altercations this year with Selwyn and Scrimgeour, but he hoped they would remember how he had been capable of handling them alone. Having less use of his magical core than normal irked him more than any detention could. Tonks had relayed Joe's message and asked what had happened to put him in such a fragile state. She nearly fainted when he mentioned a blood ritual to permanently protect him from poisons, before actually fainting when he mentioned that he would be going through a few more in the near future. That had been a long, heated argument with the lovely metamorphmagus, especially when trying to avoid mentioning the thousand-year-old basilisk that was helping him.

Then it struck him. He could burn off the remaining five and a half days with the time turner. Hell, he could even put in a massive amount of practice with the blade. Harry was ready to dart to the room of requirement as soon as Defence let out, however, as the blonde ponce entered the room he knew it would be a long day. The fool burst into the classroom like a blue and gold peacock, complete with the signature strut.

"Good afternoon my dear students! Today we will be going over my book, Year with the Yeti." Harry's face fell immediately into his palms, as did many of the other students. There was little doubt in his mind that he would be called upon to portray the creature. _At least it isn't the werewolf yet._ Gilderoy appeared to not notice this change in atmosphere as he continued, "now I will be needing a partner to act as the other members of the tale." His eyes darted around the room a bit before settling on the Peverell heir. He groaned. "Come on up to the front of the classroom Harry. You ought to make a magnificent yeti." The boy in question glared at the fraud. "Now first we must establish the scene. I was seeing a lovely witch by the name of Selena in Finland. The beauty of the country is marred by one great issue. Yeti. They are fairly uncommon creatures, only able to survive and thrive in the coldest of climates, and worst of all, they have a love of human women." Harry used hs occlumency to drown out the idiot'story and followed along on his admittedly good memory of the class from the last time around. Nearly an hour later, the reenactment of another wizard's triumph had ended. The Boy-Who-Lived hastily packed his bag and made for the room of requirement.

When he reached the corridor on the seventh floor he strode as calmly as he could to summon his training room. Seeing the familiar door appear, he made sure not a soul was present in the hall and bounded into it. Five training dummies were waiting on him, and this time his clone and one other were armed with dummy wands while the remaining three were wielding a longsword, rapier, and set of daggers respectively. The clone summoned a gladius, a new addition to the armory, from its place and tossed it to him. The raven haired boy caught the implement by the handle and everyone sprung into action.

The manikin wielding the rapier was the first of the advancing party to strike, a powerful thrust sped towards his left shoulder. The gladius passed into his left hand as he parried the attack before being tossed back to the right for a counter attack. The choice sword of gladiators cut cleanly through and lopped off the wooden left arm. _Point one to Potter._ A well-placed blasting curse turned the falling arm into an area of effect splintering attack on the young wizard. Using the left arm to shield his eyes from the debris, he knew one of his melee foes was going to be striking next. As he thought, a longsword arced upward from his lower right. _Attacking the armed side isn't exactly the wisest of maneuvers._ A hard kick to the flat of the blade sent it up and away from him as he batted away a bludgeoning curse using the gladius.

With a roar, Death's apprentice spun low and rent the first manikin's remaining arm off at the wrist. A short jump towards the falling hand and the Boy-Who-Lived now had a gladius and a rapier. Odd as the combination was, it made for an interesting combination of attacks and defensive moves. A thrust to enter close range followed by a kick or a short volley of strikes with the gladius made short work of all four remaining dummies. Harry was laid flat on his back, panting from the exertion, as he felt more than heard the automatons being remade and readied for battle. He had traded the rapier for a dagger when it snapped inside his clones chest. Bringing his legs up violently, he used the momentum to spring back to his feet in a lowered offensive stance. It continued for twenty-four hours at a time, until finally, the heir of Peverell felt his magical core fill to the brim once more. _Yes! I can finally cast as much as I want again._ A quick tempus spell and he hurried along to nap through History of Magic. The evening was quite boring as McGonagall had set him to counting out her supplies of matchsticks, snails, and other small animals for first-year transfiguration curriculum. The time had flown by and by nine in the evening he was heading for the common room from the second floor.

 **Warning: Shit About To Go Down**

A sharp, girlish yell sounded out as he ascended to the fourth floor. A vicious rage immediately entered his blood stream. With all haste he sprinted towards the sound, only taking the time to disillusion himself. Her screams had grown louder now, hell it wouldn't surprise him if a banshee were actually in the corridor. The sound of his frantic steps finally forced him to stop and silence his feet. As he got ever closer to the corridor he had used in the morning to become invisible before visiting Boros he could hear the screams intensify until he heard a roughly groaned, "Shit, quiet down you little bitch. Silencio!"

Harry rounded the corner to find a very nude girl being forced against the stone wall by a man with his hood half on. The bastard turned his face towards the entrance just far enough that he could make out blonde hair, blue eyes, and a very primal smile on the visage of Gilderoy Lockhart. Instantly the disillusionment charm and silencing charms shattered, revealing the very picture of wrath in Harry Potter's form. Wandlessly he summoned a blade from a nearby suit of armor and roared out, "YOU!" His magic subconsciously built up in his legs and he dashed forward. Gilderoy had barely managed to "unsheathe" himself from the girl before Harry did some sheathing of his own. The blade had missed his heart but pierced clean through his ribs. Knowing the bastard could heal from this type of wound with proper treatment he forced his magic through the hand and a half sword, making the section in his torso shatter. His heart and lungs were immediately perforated by this. The body fell to its knees and began to finish its fall, but in his state of rage Harry spun and parted the head and shoulders of Gilderoy Lockhart. The death of this fool meant the end to his spells, and instantly he heard whimpering cries behind him. The grim work done, he turned to the pale girl laying a mere meter from this carnage.

Her hair was a black that matched his own. It was even as disheveled as his was most of the time. What surprised the young man was that the rest of her features, an upturned nose, pale blue eyes, and a light scar near her hairline revealed her to be Pansy Parkinson. _Pansy!_ The girl who had tormented him through his last life and even suggested he be tied up and handed to Voldemort not too long before he willingly walked into death's embrace. Anger should have been what raged through him but seeing her so damaged, so used caused him to feel nothing but pity. He had come to her rescue and his only regret was that she had been taken by the bastard before he ended him. He quickly covered her with his cloak and began repairing her torn uniform.

"P-p-p-p-otter?"

* * *

 **Well, Folks, that's another chapter of Death's Power. Please remember to leave a review, follow, or favorite.**


	9. Chapter 9: The Vacancy

**A new chapter in my pursuit of getting my imagination out onto some form of paper is here my friends. Enjoy. Oh also if any of you wonderful people would like to be a beta on this story I would be thoroughly pleased if you sent me a message.**

 ** _§ Parseltongue §_**

 ** _Thoughts_**

 ** _'mental communication'_**

 **I own only my original characters. Harry Potter and his world are the properties of J.K. Rowling.**

 _Chapter Nine: The Vacancy_

The last Potter looked to her from the tattered clothes. "Yes Pansy, me. Now hold still." Kneeling down, he placed his right hand gently on the curve of her face while casting every diagnostic charm he could even remember Madam Pomfrey using on him. She was sore, definitely going to be bruised where that monster had dug his hands into her sides. Her virginity was also very assuredly gone, both of them if he cast the spell correctly. A wave a fury coursed through him anew and he turned setting the pedophile's body aflame with a wordless incendio. Pansy had a look of revulsion mixed with righteous anger as she watched the headless body begin to burn.

"That absolute arsehole! Father will be so angry."

"Why would your father be angry at a dead man Pansy?" The girl in question choked down a sob before responding.

"Not at him. He'll be angry with me for breaking the contract with Lord Malfoy." Her expression was a muddled pile of fear and pain as she began to sob in earnest.

"How have you broken any kind of contract?" Harry's demand, punctuated by his magic visibly affecting the air around them, shook the girl heavily.

"I lost my virginity to a wizard that wasn't a Malfoy, therefore the contract betrothing myself to Draco is broken." Her cries paired with this tidbit of information only made the raven-haired boy's magic swirl around them more intensely. The heat it created halted all of Pansy's movements and her eyes locked on the source of this magical power.

"You mean to tell me that any Malfoy could have done it and you'd still be set to marry Draco?" Even Harry could feel the heat his magic was creating in response to his emotions when she nodded. _Shit, reign it in Potter, reign it in._ "If the contract is broken does that mean you can see whoever you like now?" Another nod of her head went a long way to calming the furious wizard. "Good, you can do much better than being a Malfoy plaything." He forced a concerned smile on his face as he finished repairing her clothes. "Here, I'll turn away so you can put these back on." True to his word, the Boy-Who-Lived turned his back as the young Slytherin quickly donned her newly mended uniform and robe. He only turned back when she threw his robe over his shoulder. "Feeling better now that you're not covered in the red of us lions?" She shook her head quickly.

"No. I still feel horrible. I'll need to go see my head girl about taking care of the bruises and the other thing." She paused for a moment before launching herself at him and nearly crushing his ribs with a hug. "Thank you. I will sleep better knowing that the monster that did this to me is dead."

"You mean the image of his burning body won't haunt your dreams?"

"My father is a pure blood lord, Potter. I have seen wizards fall to my father in honor duels many times." Pansy held her head high as she stared at the young man that stood eye to eye with her now. Potter had indeed been growing this year so far. He had just proved it was a conscious physical change. She had been appraising him since the start of term and, like many of the younger years found the days he came to breakfast slick with sweat to be a treat. At any other time she would have pounced on him, but now she feared he would treat her like the other wizards, like a piece of garbage only to be used for a few moments of satisfaction. "Why?" A fiery anger filled her gaze as she looked upon the Boy-Who-Lived.

The boy in question merely locked her gaze with one of his own. "What he was doing is unforgivable to me. He could have been taking Voldemort himself and I would have killed him all the same." His rage boiled again for a moment. "To me, consent is something you never ignore. Do you have any political opinions on how this should be handled?"

"You and I both have memories of the event so it should serve to be incriminating, even if the Wizengamot would be cross with you for killing him." She pondered seriously for a moment while Potter just stood there, hands behind his back and eyes set on the burned form of her tormentor. The broken sword used to take his life lay mere feet from her. "We should alert a teacher at the very least." He turned back to her, his robe billowing slightly.

"Pomfrey first, then through her we will get our Heads of House and the Headmaster." Potter kicked at the sword, sending it clattering towards the intact head of Gilderoy Lockhart. "Snape will try to pin both the ravaging and the killing on me I'm sure, but McGonagall and Dumbledore should be able to see reason." A heavy sigh escaped the Boy-Who-Lived. "Let's call the burning of his body an accident, though, please. Few know I'm capable of any wandless magic and I prefer to keep it that way. Can you protect your mind from Legilimency?" At her simple nod, Potter offered her his hand and helped her along to the Hospital Wing.

To say Madam Pomfrey was surprised and annoyed by another night's appearance of her most valuable client was akin to saying the sky was blue or Scottish winters cold. When Harry Potter showed up supporting a clearly ruffled Pansy Parkinson she nearly fell off her stool. At the urging that she had been raped and possibly impregnated and by their Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor she did indeed fall to the floor for a moment. Harry insisted that she make a medical assessment of miss Parkinson prior to contacting the proper disciplinary figures. Seeing as the allegations were rather dire, Poppy decided to follow the teen's request. She hurried Pansy along to a bed further back in the wing and erected barriers to prevent Harry seeing anything he shouldn't. After the first three diagnostic spells, the matron was absolutely fuming. Miss Parkinson had been sodomized and her maidenhead had been broken rather forcefully just before she'd been impregnated. The fourth spell indicated it was, in fact, a product of Gilderoy Lockhart's body inside the young girl. Three rapid fire dove patronuses flew off in different directions, most likely to the Headmaster and Heads of their Houses.

* * *

 _It was a cold night. There was an inhuman chill in the air as he stared at the nearly conflagrated little house._ This isn't right. It should feel like I'm walking into a furnace. _The man moved at a snail's pace through the rubble of his best friend's home, unaffected by the fire licking at the building. Right inside the entrance he found him, laying in what used to be the sitting room. Sirius could feel the magic in the air as he looked at the telltale signs of a duel between ruthless wizards. The cuts were razor thin, perfectly round holes pierced much of the room on the side the intruder had come from. James had been seeking to deal with little damage to his home while ending the life of that monster. The dark haired auror fell to his knees beside his best friend and wept for what felt like hours. Finally, he stood and made his way up with the damage to the nursery where he found Lily. Her body had crumpled in death just as James' had done. This time, as he lamented his sadness was draining away and being replaced with something else._

 _It coursed through him until he knew without a doubt it was the rage. His father, Orion, had told him stories in his youth of their ancestor Alistair Black, the man who wed a female berserker. She had been a Viking, powerful in magic but unable to use it outside her body. The tale was that her people feared magic so much that her own never worked outside her skin. It had made her into a powerful force on the battlefield as the strongest of blows only left faint scarring on her body. When this woman, known only as Freja to her husband, was angered her strength seemed to increase ten-fold. She had cleaved men in twain with her sword. Oh, the sword. It had vexed Sirius mightily when his father mentioned that her weapon, nearly nine hundred years old, still held its edge and was battle ready should one of her descendants discover how to use her berserker magic. Orion believed that one of his children may have this ability, and now Sirius felt it rage through him. His magic, instead of affecting his surrounding as it had in his youth, instead kept him from harm. His skin felt like steel, his muscles were adamant, and he felt nothing from the world outside him even as the house began to collapse around him._

 _A heavy support beam had fallen onto his left shoulder and alerted him to this fact immediately. No! James and Lily must be laid to rest, not burned like common criminals. moving his left hand to sweep away the beam he heard an almighty crack as it was flung halfway across the room. Well, pops did say ten-fold strength. As fast as he could he gathered Lily in his arms and ran down the stairs for James. Finding him was easy enough but now the fire had begun to burn the Lord of House Potter. A hastily yelled water conjuring charm failed for him. Wait, I've been able to conjure water since before fourth-year. Shit! His father must have been right when he said she couldn't use magic outside her body. He grabbed James and drug him from the testament to the wrath a prophecy can bring on good people. Once outside he lay the bodies down and put out the fire the old fashioned way. He couldn't take it anymore. His blood was liquid fire and one person needed to feel his wrath._

"WORMTAIL!" His fist collided with the stone wall and he felt his punch break the stone of Azkaban slightly. _Sweet Morgana stretched across the hood of a Mercedes Benz it's freezing in here today!_ As Sirius rose and made his way to the water basin a voice pierced the silence of his cell.

"My my, it appears Freja was right about you, young Lord Black." The Lord in question spun on his heels and froze in place. Before him were two figures, both emanating the purest cold he'd ever felt. The first looked absolutely furious that he had even been brought along. He stood around five and a half feet and was thin. Definitely a man from the orient judging by his almond shaped eyes and nearly parchment-colored skin. His hair was definitely long, but he had it pulled back into a ponytail that fell to mid-back. This man wore a simple suit, navy with a white shirt beneath it, and black wingtip shoes. At his side hung a katana, its sheath a brilliantly blue lacquered base with yellow lotus petals adorning the throat. The other man was downright scary. He was a tall skeletal sort with black locks and pale blue eyes. He wore the darkest suit in existence and bore no weapon whatsoever. What made him scary was that Sirius could feel that while the Asian man was absolutely a predator, this man was the apex. He could wholly crush Sirius but to do so would be a waste of his unfathomable power. Laughter shook the apex predator's form as well as the whole of the prison. "Mugen, it appears that you are a definite predator but I am the apex predator." A smile crossed the face of the warrior and he gripped both the throat of his sheath and the hilt of his blade before moving like the wind towards Sirius. Like lightning, the unnamed man struck the other and with a sickening crunch, was flung through the wall into Bella's cell.

"Bella! Are you alright?" Sirius made to move into her cell but was froze when **he** stepped in the way.

"Now now, Sirius. You would not want to enter that cell after I admonished one of my favorites for attacking you." The man looked back into the cell and at this Mugen fellow before continuing on. "You know how much these two can aid him, my little samurai. They aren't to be killed just because you are self-conscious about your own killing intent."

"He disrespected you by insinuating that you are a mere predator Master. He will only serve to give the boy a big head when he's already insufferable." The short man had stood and was brushing the crushed stone from his suit as Bellatrix came into view.

"What the hell is going on here?!" Before she could get started on a tirade both members of the Black family felt what the unnamed man had called killing intent. It was so heavy they had fallen to their knees. Happy with the response the taller man faced the pair.

"If you don't quiet down I shall end the line of Black here and now." Seeing the pale duo flush, even more, the reaper decided to continue. "I am the grim reaper or, as your godson prefers to call me, Joe. The reason for our presence," he gestured between himself and Mugen, "is to offer you two a very important job. Harry, as I've mentioned earlier, knows me and has been given a little instruction by myself. This is because Tom Riddle," he pointed at Bella, "your old master, has found a way to cheat death and the last of the Potters is uniquely placed to kill him." To say the two were surprised was an understatement. Sirius had been on board as soon as Harry was mentioned. It would be a cold day in hell that he'd refuse to help the child of two of his best friends. Another laugh shook the building. "You know, hell isn't very temperate at all. It is just a place where a dear friend of mine torments those who anger the rest of his family. Back to the matter at hand, should you accept to aid Sirius, you both will leave this place immediately and I will return this place to its rightful owner. Recovery will be up to-" Bella interrupted quickly.

"Leave? I will do anything you ask, especially if it hurts those murderous rapists." Bella had regained some of her color and already seemed years younger as she answered the reaper. A sick smile crossed Joe's face.

"Excellent choice," he turned to the Asian man again, "let us begin the work necessary Mugen." The two beings moved at once to touch the cousins Black, and then they were gone. The scythe appeared within Joe's grip as he strode out of the cell and towards the guard shack. Mugen began pursuing dementors, killing them with inhuman speed as his katana flashed through the air. By the time the dementors had been decimated, Joe had returned and was working ancient magic with his scythe. The creation of silver and bone spun in the air for nearly a minute until the reaper slammed the blade into the stone floor. All of the enchantments on the prison broke and it began to sink into the sea. "Now the inmates Mugen." The two wove a deadly path through the fortress as it sank back to Poseidon's depths.

* * *

Severus and Albus were debating the one thing that mattered at the time, the boy when two of Poppy's patronuses burst in on them. They went off at nearly the same time, making for an odd echoing effect. "Headmaster/Professor Snape, there is an urgent matter that needs attending to in the Hospital Wing. One of our students has been harmed." The two wizards shared a look that could only mean one thing, Potter. They walked at a brisk pace after applying a silencing charm anchored to Severus' beard.

"What do you think Potter has done now?" Stroking his beard, Dumbledore answered the shallow man.

"Most likely would be someone from your house tried to get the jump on him and he responded enthusiastically. Lesser theories could be more of his heroics a la your junior Death Eaters pressuring the Metamorphmagus for sexual favors."

"There are no known juniors hoping to join Lucius out causing trouble tonight. He probably picked up on his father's old habits and tortured a better student." The shadow of James Potter's treatment of him passed over the eyes of the Half-Blood Prince. Choosing to remain silent on the matter, Harry could bully any student here if he wished to, Albus just chose to increase their joint speed. Reaching the Hospital Wing saw the pair joined by Minerva. She wasted no time in barging through the door and addressing the matron.

"Who's been hurt, Poppy? One of my Lions?" Professor McGonagall's concern was plain as she saw Harry Potter sitting on one of the unoccupied beds near a set of privacy screens. "Mister Potter, what are you doing here?"

The raven-haired teen chose to allow Poppy the chance to break the news. She was still fuming as she spat out, "Miss Parkinson appears to have had her maidenhead broken and was also sodomized quite forcefully this evening." Snape had heard all he needed to.

"Potter! I'll see you expelled if not sent to Azkaban for harming one of my students and-"

"It was Lockhart Professor Snape!" Pansy screamed shrilly. "Harry came upon that blond bastard right after he...and he did the honorable thing. Lockhart will not harm anyone else in this school because Potter killed him for what he was doing." A fresh wave of tears had overcome the young lady and Harry was left to stare into the eyes of two master Legilimens with the grit of a true killer. Severus knew better than to probe the young man's mind but Albus decided to capitalize on the moment and dove in.

 _He felt a fury rivaling the gods in the boy for a brief second. Then he was walking up the grand staircase with the child of two skilled and powerful mages. He heard the rough voice of his fraud Defense Professor, and then he watched the boy sprint down the hall to the corridor. The memory and Headmaster turned the corner at the same time to see a nude Pansy being ravaged by a man he had recruited to keep Harry meek, but instead, the view caused the boy to walk to the closest suit of armor for its blade. Armed with the sword the wizened wizard saw it happen. Fury consumed the young man and he bolted towards Gilderoy, long sword raised howling out a single word. "YOU!" the blond man had enough time to pull himself from the child and turned like an idiot to present a larger target for the armed child. One-quarter of the implement sunk into the rapist's chest. Albus saw the pulse of magic surge up the blade and heard the clatter of its tip hit the floor. His eyes widened when the body began to fall and the Boy-Who-Lived cut Gilderoy Lockhart's head clean off. This is no boy, this is a warrior! Albus lamented as he saw the body burning up while the boy covered Miss Parkinson, daughter to Damien. He would never allow the savior of his daughter to be prosecuted by the Wizengamot and the dark families would side with him on this. A second Harry joined the first in the memory as it froze. He looked unhappy but nowhere near the image a wrath his memory had been. "This is the second time in a week that I have had my mind invaded Professor. I have allowed it so you can see what really happened tonight. I will let you know now. If I come across something like this again the results will be the same." Albus started to respond but was cut off. "I may not survive every time I jump into a situation like I did tonight, but I will sell my soul to Voldemort before I stand by or even hold back on someone harming an innocent."_

Tremors shook the form of the most powerful wizard in the world. He had been forced from the memory and back into his body beside Minerva and Severus. The Potions Master looked at him for a brief moment before stepping back. Before Minerva and Madam Pomfrey could notice, he steeled himself and spoke. "Mister Potter, Miss Parkinson, I will need to draw a memory of the event from each of you to deliberate with your Heads of House." The aged man looked to the young pureblood who was peeking out from behind the privacy screen. "Miss Parkinson, are you familiar with the process of drawing a memory from yourself?" At her careful nod, Severus produced two empty vials and stoppers. They were handed politely to Pansy while the Half-Blood Prince glared at the killer teen. A quick pull of her wand from her temple and Pansy's memory of the event was safely stored. The curling of her finger brought Harry to her, and with a whispered bit of instruction, she drew the memory from him and deposited it in the free vial. "I will send for the both of you once a decision has been made." The greatest wizard of the light summoned the vials to him. He gestured for his two respected Professors and they swept out of the clinic, heading for the Headmaster's office and his penseive.

* * *

A retreating Albus Dumbledore looked quite wonderful to a certain black haired witch and wizard. Harry had even seen a spark of fear in the wizened old man's eyes before he broke the contact. _Good. He should fear what I'm capable of doing to those who harm others._ Pansy was an unknown quantity, though. She had been a cruel unmitigated bitch to everyone not coated in the green and silver of Slytherin, but right now she was just a damaged person happy to have seen her tormentor killed. A twelve-year-old girl pleased with a man's death. Hell, she'd even hugged him while he was lightly spattered with blood. How was he supposed to know if she could be trusted or even spoken to after this night? Sure, she would be grateful to him for now, but what happens if the dark lord Tom escapes his resurrection party? Surely daddy Parkinson will bend the knee and either assign his daughter with killing him or try to lure him into a one on one fight with the snake faced bastard.

 _Well, unless he is marked._ Killing all the faithful Death Eaters that respond to a summons is the first priority on resurrection night. If he recalled correctly, there were around fourteen of them in the graveyard on that terrible night. Nott, Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, and Macnair were the five he could remember off the top of his head. Was Pansy's father among the nine unidentified Death Eaters? _Well, I guess we play it all by ear for now._ A silence had passed on the Hospital Wing for a few minutes and the matron had returned to working almost silently on her teen charge. Not wanting to leave Pansy alone, Harry waited. Half an hour later, Madam Pomfrey had decided that her charge was well enough to leave.

"Would you mind escorting Miss Parkinson to her common room, Mister Potter?" Now here's an opportunity to make use of my well-developed sense of levity to lighten up a situation.

"Escort a lovely pureblood princess like miss Pansy Marie Parkinson? Why it would be an honor to protect her from the atrocities this castle can produce." The last Potter bowed long and deep enough to put any house elf to shame. Had he looked up from the honorific gesture he would have seen first a bright pink dusting cover the Parkinson heiress' face, and then a look of the utmost annoyance.

"My middle name is NOT Marie, Potter! Why would I want a noble git like you to escort me anywhere?" Madam Pomfrey looked affronted, but Harry was grinning as widely as he could at the response. He jumped off the bed he was seated on and offered his left arm to the young lady.

"Shall we go, Princess?" The girl in question huffed as a little more pink dusted her cheeks. After a full minute of glaring at him, she took his arm tentatively and he led her out of the clinic. It wasn't long before the pureblood had a death grip on his arm. Apparently, moving around the castle this soon after being confounded and raped was not a cathartic activity. They reached a point not too far from the Slytherin common room's entrance and there was no sign of a release on him. "Um, Pansy? Aren't we about where we need to separate to keep your common room's location safe from me, the Lion's Lion?" She snorted.

"You would be far from the worst to set foot in our common room. I recall a seventh-year boy last year, his name was Orion, he nearly killed six other seventh-years in duels."

"A Slytherin with a mean streak? I'd never have thought." His smile caused the young witch to slap his arm. "Hey now, you keep that up and I'll start to think the house of the cunning is full of people that would rather blush at my compliments and slap me."

"You...you...bloody fool." Nearly her whole face was red by now and her fists were balled tightly as she struck him multiple times. Each hit emphasized her words. "Noble...bloody...cute...SHIT..." Harry was nearly rolling on the ground from laughter at her slip up. Well, the hero image might not be so bad after all. Maybe I can ally myself with the smarter and more well-connected witches this time around. Hermione is smart and Luna powerful, but neither are politically skilled. His guise of rolling in laughter had annoyed Pansy greatly and she hit him with a stinging hex that landed on his stomach.

"Ouch. Hey!" He began to rise, shrugging off the stinging hex as easily as one would a slight chill. "Are you fine if I leave you here now?" The black-haired teen had a look of contemplation on her face. The Boy-Who-Lived could see the wheels turning in that head before she nodded. "Well, Miss Parkinson, I shall have to bid you a good evening. If you should ever have need of my services, you only need to call for me." Harry ran a hand through his hair, wandlessly disillusioning himself.

"What in Morgana's name?"

* * *

The three Professors moved at a sedated pace towards the headmaster's office. A quick wave of the Elder Wand and the guardian of his office moved to the side. The Leader of the Light and his two most trusted advisors swept into the small room. Minerva and Severus stood at attention as Albus opened his cupboard, revealing his pensieve. _First, we will start with the side I've seen thanks to Harry._ The memory was poured into the basin and immediately a vague picture of the boy in question was walking up the grand staircase. "Well, don't let me hold you back, my friends." The three all placed a finger into the swirling liquid before being pulled into the bowl.

The group landed on the grand staircase behind the young man who'd take a life in a few minutes. Severus had a scowl across his face and Minerva was studying the Boy-Who-Lived for signs of heroism. They heard the banshee's shriek that was Pansy being ravaged and they followed the twelve-year-old wizard as he ran to the corridor. Perhaps he could have Harry trained with the sword, he obviously had some measure of skill. The kill he was about to witness was a messy, amateur affair. The group turned into the corridor and Minerva swore in Gaelic while Severus was unable to contain his magic. Severus always had a menacing magic about him, probably caused by the dark mark that adorned his left arm. Albus let his revulsion from his first time through the memory cover his face. He had hired this man, this monster to dissuade the boy who felled him from using his fame. He most assuredly succeeded, but at what? The Harry Potter who pulled him into this memory was a warrior, not some pompous, fame-obsessed fool. He has a strength, though, something that would see Tom either at the height of his power or in multiple pieces at the foot of a man worthy of being called The Warrior of the Light. The deathblow came and with it, the two seeing the memory for the first time showed a grim bit of satisfaction. It was short and simple, seeing the young man cover and comfort the girl, and before they knew it the three were once more standing in the opulent office. The outbursts were coming in three, two, one.

"That monster! If he hadn't been seen to I would have taken care of him myself." Minerva always had the hottest blood in his staff overall.

"They called for me to be imprisoned and he was allowed to walk free?" Severus was absolutely seething.

"Can I assume we will not need to punish mister Potter?"

"We must wait until after viewing miss Parkinson's memory before we pass judgment on this ordeal. I do not see a reason so far for any punishment to be levied against Harry."

 **Chapter End**

 **Well, Ladies and Gentlemen, that's another chapter and I'm fairly certain in record time for me. Instead of my usual asking for favorites, follows, and reviews I am simply going to pose a question to you all. At this point in time, how do you feel about Albus? Rant, rage, abhor, love, like, or are you intrigued? Bring it all on folks, Adios.**


	10. Chapter 10: Aftermath Part 1

**A new chapter of Death's Power is here Lords and Ladies. I have broken this portion up into two or more chapters mainly due to how much stretching occurred in the writing process. Enjoy the read, I enjoyed writing it.**

 ** _§ Parseltongue §_**

 ** _Thoughts_**

 ** _'mental communication'_**

 **I own only my original characters. Harry Potter and his world are the properties of J.K. Rowling.**

 _Chapter Ten: Aftermath Part 1_

The second memory was swirling around in the basin as the three Professors stared at it. An uncomfortable air had filled the office. Minerva was against seeing this memory after the gruesome end to the last. Severus was angry, after his conversion to being a spy for the Light he thought the worst of society were his old compatriots but Gilderoy had nothing to do with either side then or now. Albus was furious in his own right. How could he have allowed a deviant like that around children under his care? All for his designs on ending Tom, he subjected a young girl to this. Dumbledore was the first to put his finger in and be whisked into the memory followed shortly by Snape and an annoyed Minerva. They landed on the fourth floor behind the young Parkinson heiress. She was every ounce the pureblood princess she normally was, composed, immaculately dressed, and carrying what looked to be a piece of parchment. The three followed her to Lockhart's office with wary looks on their faces.

 _The dark-haired teen walked into the office and immediately recoiled at the hundred if not more photos of the pompous git. The man in question hadn't noticed her yet. He was writing what seemed to be a response to some sort of letter. Who would even write this lousy fool of a Professor? He finally looked up and a wide grin spread across his face. "Ah, Miss Parkinson, what can this humble Defense Professor do for you tonight?" She huffed at his greeting._

 _"I want to know why I failed the last test. I gave an accurate charm for immobilizing cornish pixies and you marked it incorrect." She brandished her test with its marks._

 _"Ah yes! Well, the stasis charm is a viable option I showed all of you students a perfect charm for it." His smile actually had a sparkle to it. "My patented pixie repulsion charm is what I was looking for on that question. Much like the transmogrification charm is how you stop a werewolf without killing it." He flashed another megawatt smile at her, looking exactly like the cover from one of his blasted books. The young pureblood almost hid her disgust perfectly, a slight twitch of the eye gave her away. Lockhart rose from his desk and walked around it._

 _"There is always more than one correct answer." She huffed, "mine were other correct methods for achieving the same goals." She let the statement dangle for a few minutes unanswered before she was obviously fed up with it and turned to leave. "Good night P-"_

 _The confundus charm hit her in the back hard, pushing her into the corridor. The girl's mind was blank as he lurched towards her wearing a predatory grin. He forced her back against the stone wall as his hands ghosted over her budding breasts and small arse. "Well, I think I know how we can get your grade up. It will just require you getting something of mine up." His laugh was fit for a maniac as he began to tear at her clothes._

Dumbledore felt the rage and disgust of his fellow Professors behind him as the young miss Parkinson was taken for nearly a half an hour by the lousy son of a squib. Having seen enough barbarism enacted upon a youth, Albus forced the memory to end prematurely and the three were once more standing in the opulent office. This time, Severus was the first to burst. Half of the glasses in the room shattered from a bout of accidental magic from him.

"Pott...Harry was just in what he did. I am recommending him for the award for special services to the school as Head of Slytherin." Surprise halted the Headmaster's own rage for a moment. Had Severus Snape just nominated Harry, son of his longtime enemy, for the highest reward the school could give? Minerva was next to speak.

"I second that notion, Albus." She swore in Gaelic once more. "Why is it that Harry always ends up in the thick of these things? I'm not complaining now because he aided a woman in danger but I must say I am saddened to see him claim a life at such a tender age." He wouldn't dare mention that many of the past occurrences in Harry Potter's life were of his own design, especially with Minerva's magic permeating the office in addition to the sinister Mister Snape's own. It was time for Albus' piece finally.

"I accept and will be awarding it personally to Harry when we call the two here tomorrow." He needed to get out in front of this and he knew just the way to do it. "We must first alert your dear friend Amelia," the wizened warlock gestured to Minerva, "I expect she will bring two to five Aurors here immediately after our summons. Luckily we have memories from both involved parties to present to them. Severus, would you mind sending Poppy a patronus to come here as well with the relevant files for Miss Parkinson's injuries?" The former Death Eater sprung into action and the silver doe pranced off to the infirmary. The Transfiguration Mistress simply fell into a chair in front of the desk as Albus knelt and thrust his head into the green flames.

* * *

The building in front of them was what one might call a fixer upper if one were optimistic. To the two dark-haired individuals in front of the edifice now it was an utter shit hole, then again anything would beat Azkaban at this point. They could tell the place had once been a glorious testament to the skills carpenters and stonemasons possessed. Time had disfigured this great building, not man or magic. Its four-story height was covered in stone and wood, weathered gargoyles adorned the castellations of the roof to form a menacing exterior when paired with the overgrown foliage. Sirius felt a chill run up his spine as a southern wind caressed the pair. Bella tried to contain herself but to no avail.

"Morgana's tits! This looks like the old manor he would call us to." She shivered at the memory of Riddle Manor. "Bastard said it was his muggle father's home, but that it could wonderfully fulfill the needs of the pure and true rulers of the world." She cursed. "He killed and tortured more than fifteen Lords with blood purer than his there." An arctic wind blew this time from the North. It wasn't like the last breeze, though, this was wind straight from the depths of hell itself.

"This Manor has a less violent history, Bellatrix." It was him again. The reaper stood behind the pair, flanked by the Asian man from before and the most imposing woman Bella had ever seen. She was five foot seven inches tall with light brown hair flowing straight down to her feet behind her. She wore a sleeveless dress of deep purple, the neck came down in a deep vee to reveal ample cleavage. Her feet were bare yet immaculate. Her blue eyes bore into Bella's amethyst and her sharp facial features were turned up in a smile. The woman seemed even more dangerous than the man Joe had sent through her cell wall less than an hour ago. A voice thundered in Bella's head.

 _'My breasts are easily more magnificent than this manor young witch, and don't you forget that!'_

Bellatrix was floored. _No. There is no fucking way that this woman is the mistress of the dark herself._

 _'I beg to differ youngling, I could intimately describe every act I was ever even rumored to have committed. Or I could describe Merlin's cock in excruciating detail if you'd prefer?'_ At this, the darkest witch of her age fainted, much like a victorian lady. Sirius rushed to his cousin as Joe shook his head laughing at the exchange.

"You know she's going to really fear you if you do that too much Morgana." The age old sorceress let loose a deep feminine laugh. The reaper turned back to Sirius and moved to touch Bella, instantly returning her to a conscious state.

"Wha...huh?" A bark of laughter escaped the Lord of the Black family. He'd finally lost it. First, he finds out Bella was controlled by their family magic worked on a betrothal contract, met the reaper who chose to free them both from their imprisonment, and now it appeared that they were being introduced to Morgana Le Fey. He helped his cousin up and just stared at the knockout that was the lover and enemy of the greatest wizard of all time. Joe was not one to waste any time, or apparently expense on them.

"Shall we enter the Manor? Or would you prefer to stand here in what I assume is cold weather until the explanations are completed?" At the pair's nods, the group walked into the decrepit building. As they passed the main french doors the Blacks could feel enchantments enveloping them. The gaunt, vampirish looking Sirius felt his spine tingle as they were suddenly in a massive room, easily ten times the space he'd assumed it would be from the outside. The skeletal man gestured at the surrounding space. "This will be where you two first recover, and then train under two of my favorites here." One hand each fell on the shoulders of the pair of impossible people with the reaper. "I believe you two have met my little samurai, Mugen." The slightest of nods was aimed at the pair by the man in question. "The new addition is the most feared witch of Magical Britain's history, the Lady Morgana Le Fey." The dark haired beauty smiled at the pair with a warmth neither expected. "For now, you know all that is necessary. I have souls to reap." Joe turned his head to the right for a moment, "apparently, my latest soul is one claimed by Harry himself." With a maniacal grin, he was gone.

Sirius was conflicted, to say the least. Had Harry killed someone? That is the only meaning the Black Lord could draw from Joe's message. Why would he have done this? In the time he had known James he had only ever killed Death Eaters. Could one have attacked his godson? He became frantic in his worrying until he felt a sharp pain in his neck.

* * *

Harry had barely made it to the room of requirement. The adrenaline rush had faded and he was shaking like a leaf on the wind. He had just taken a life for the second time in this timeline. Sure, he had taken nearly thirty that nine months while he Ron, Hermione, and Susan were off hunting the horcruxes, but this was different. His twelve-year-old body was influencing his mind more than it should. Before only his magic had taken lives. This time, a sword would be taking just as many lives as his magic. He asked for a room with a bath in addition to his usual training room and the castle provided. The Boy-Who-Lived ran a scalding hot bath before disrobing and sinking into it. A sigh of contentment left him as the water soothed his tense muscles.

"You know, one day you could sell tickets to an event like this." The all too familiar voice of his favorite reaper caused the raven-haired teen to flinch and dive underwater. "Then again, I could probably sell tickets now and half the girls in this castle would buy them." Her laughter was melodious when he brought his head back above the water.

"Why would you sneak up on me like that?!" His anger and embarrassment seemed to only increase Anne's enjoyment of their current situation.

"Because it was fun and it has been awhile since I last witnessed a warrior so...unprotected." She threw a blade from the rack at him. He reacted on instinct, catching the implement by its hilt and raising it to parry the thrust coming his way as he leaped from the water. The clash of steel meeting steel filled the room as they moved around. Harry was having a difficult time maneuvering while his body was slick from the bath and fell backward as he attempted to bat away Anne's latest strike. Pain lanced up his back from the impact and desperation took hold. _Time to see if the reapers can die or not._ Readjusting his limiter seal to nineteen percent, the Boy-Who-Lived stretched out his open left hand and shouted out.

"Fulminus!" Magic flowed from his core to his fingertips and lightning flashed between the two warriors in the blink of an eye. The witch bolt, wizard bolt in Harry's case, struck Anne's right shoulder and elicited the loudest shriek of pain he had ever heard. The reaper fell to the ground, dropping her blade in the process. The loss of magic nearly caused the naked wizard to pass out. _Ok, conjuring lightning is not the wisest move until I am without the limiters. Even then, I have to limit the number of times I try it out._ Feeling like a ton of bricks, the Peverell heir picked himself up off the ground and moved to the fallen reaper. A tap on the shoulder with his right foot caused the seemingly young woman to jolt back into a state of conscious thought. She rolled over and bent at the waist to rise...until her face came into abrupt contact with a certain portion of the concerned wizard's anatomy. "ANNE!" Was all the boy could say as his groin felt the impact of a surprisingly hard skull. He dropped to his knees in pain, coming eye to eye with his opponent.

The reaper's eyes were wide with shock at the boy's attack and subsequent position as she intimately met his manhood. Her face lit up like a petrol fire with a red tint. "What the hell child?! I am nearly two hundred years old and you still think to put **that** in my face?" Harry let out a pained grunt as he doubled over into a fetal position.

"Was checking to see...if you were...still alive. The witch bolt...is a curse I haven't...used before." His breathing was more ragged than it ever got during any of his training.

"Of course, I'm alive. Reapers can only be sent on by Master's scythe itself." The woman rose to her full height before offering Harry a hand. "What the hell was that curse, though? It was very painful to endure." The Boy-Who-Lived merely rubbed his head as he accepted the help up.

"Like I said, it's called the witch bolt. Converts my magic into a bolt of lightning I can direct towards an enemy." He swallowed hard, taking an impromptu inventory on his available magic. "It also drains a lot of magic. Even with my limiting seal at nineteen percent." The blonde stared at him incredulously.

"You conjured lightning? Do you have a death wish Mister Potter?!"

"It came from a place of desperation once I slipped." He was rubbing his still smarting back. "I saw Tom use it through our link last time around when he killed Amelia Bones. It looked effective."

"Of course, it's an effective curse boy!" The lithe woman was rapidly becoming red all over from apparent rage. "Conjuring lightning is something very few wizards and witches can even do! You should only manipulate the elements. It is much less taxing on the magical core than simply conjuring everything you need."

"Huh. That is an excellent idea, Anne. Thanks!" He looked down and was reminded of his nakedness. "Shit! Accio boxers." A light sound of cloth rustling preceded his garment landing in his outstretched hand. Now that the Boy-Who-Lived had his tackle covered, he raised his sword in a defensive stance. He curled and uncurled his pointer finger at the woman, hoping to taunt her into a frenzy. The still reddened Anne dove towards him, brandishing her rune blade wildly.

"I'm going to cut that hand off you little cunt!" The speed the blade was moving at perplexed Harry. Sure, he'd seen Joe move like lightning but even in the Ether he'd never been able to move like him. Here Anne appeared to be wielding a whip instead of a straight blade. _Well, time to go for broke then._ Magic welled in his right arm's muscles as he tried to match his opponent's pace. His idea seemed to be working as he parried and dodged Anne's seemingly fluid sword. An off wave of his left hand summoned a gladius from the weapon rack behind the reaper. The blade struck the back of her right shoulder as it passed to his left hand. Now, armed with two swords, Harry began to press the attack in earnest. An almighty swing of his gladius knocked her balance off, exposing the torso for a good thrust. The follow-up thrust would have been perfect had the woman not used her off hand to push her light frame up over the blade. He couldn't help himself.

"What the-ARGH!" The exclamation was altered by three unblocked strikes from the airborne blonde. The first cut him from his right side to the lower opposite abdominal, the second crawled up his left arm from bicep to his neck, and the final blow split him from the back right shoulder to his arse cheek. The wounds blazed with a searing hot pain, dropping Harry to his stomach before he was left with three new scars to join his marks from the Dursleys and his first encounter with Anne. Light, tinkling laughter assaulted his ears behind him. A rage bubbled up inside him once more.

"You won our first duel because I underestimated you. That will not happen again." The boy wizard rolled to his side and flung his right blade at her. Anne was taken by surprise and moved to catch the sword with her off hand, blade first. She was unsurprised at his low movement to fly under her guard for a quick strike and brought up a knee to meet his face. A sickening crunch echoed through the room as the Peverell heir's momentum ensured that his nose was broken. The gladius fell from his hand and he tried to stem the flow of blood from his damaged face. She tutted with exuberance. "Our duel is over Harry. I have some news from Master as well if you would hear it." The boy struggled a bit fruitlessly before remembering that there was a charm to fix his current predicament. It was about a minute after this realization that he had the focus to channel his magic.

"Episkey." There was a hard popping noise followed closely by, "fuck that hurts." Harry finally stood and, seeing that his workout was through for the moment, used the dregs of his magic to summon his pants and shirt. As he began to redress himself he nodded for Anne to give him the news from Joe. With a sigh, the young looking woman began.

"I am to join you in here to test your combat skills against someone with...faster than excellent reflexes when you come for training." The blonde looked thoroughly underwhelmed to be a glorified babysitter for the boy. "When I am satisfied with your level of skill Mister Potter, another of my kind will be joining us to teach you the more...unorthodox methods of using a sword in combat. Now, you must get some rest and replenish the magic you wasted on conjuring an element to harm me. Go on, rest that child's body." Her sword had vanished and she was practically marching him out of the room. He halted in front of the door and cast a tempus charm, finding that it was nearly midnight. He quickly turned and asked the room for a time turner so he could get more than five hours of sleep. Life is about to get hectic.

* * *

The owl from Blankenship lay dead on the floor of the Malfoy Manor office. The blond man standing high over the bird had his cane clutched in one hand and a piece of parchment crumpling in the other. There was only one other time in Lucius' tenure as Lord Malfoy that he had received news so infuriating that he'd killed a fellow pureblood's post owl. The first had been news of the Dark Lord's fall, and now the betrothal contract between his heir and Lord Parkinson's daughter had been rendered null and void. The worst of this news was that the breach of contract had been from the clause he had demanded be in the blasted document. It had only been an addition to the contract because the prat had married his cousin Maribelle and the girl was fit to become a woman of similar beauty and that set his loins on fire.

The contrary Lord had stood against the tide of both the wizarding society purists and the fools who wished to throw their culture's past away to make friends with the mudbloods and their muggle filth. Luckily Maribelle had managed to slowly turn the man's views more and more towards the correct path. Near the very end of Voldemort's war for the betterment of the world, Parkinson had begun to support him and the purists in the Wizengamot. It had taken months after the Dark Lord's fall to hammer Parkinson into acquiescence to the clause. Only the revelation that his Master had taken ancient steps to achieve immortality and would eventually return to crush the blood traitor's and filth convinced him that the only option that protected his family would be allying himself with the purists who would support Voldemort. Now he would have to try to amend the contract before Dumbledore or, Merlin forbid, Amelia Bones got to him. Hastily Lucius yelled out, "Dobby!" A sharp pop brought the whelp of an elf around.

"Yes, Master. You's be needing Dobby?" The sad elf's ears were bandaged and smelled like he'd tried to cook them. This caused the blond man's nose to curl in disgust.

"Yes, you whelp. Go and find Lord Parkinson then report his location back to me. I can't waste time flooing and apparating to all of his haunts." Dobby's eyes grew wide as he looked up in fear at his master's sharp visage. "Well, get on with it, you filthy creature." He kicked the poor creature and with another loud crack he was gone. Flicking his wand from its sheath the enraged wizard burned the remains of the post owl until only ashes remained. Another loud crack sounded the arrival of his now hysterically afraid house elf. Aiming a kick at the sickly thing, he demanded answers. The elf quaked on the floor from this most recent abuse. In a trembling voice, he squeaked out.

"M-Master, the Parkinson Lord is a-at Hogwarts in the Headmaster's office." The elf flinched from his horizontal position, expecting another kick from his master. When it didn't come, he continued. "In the office also were the Bonesy woman and Albus Dumbly door. They was talking about young master's future wife and someone named Hartlock. They seeming angry." Lucius was irate at this bit of news. Surely that fool Parkinson hadn't decided the breaking of the contract meant he could run to the old goat or the Ministry to incriminate him and the other superior wizards in his little club. Pulling his wand up from hanging loosely at his side the Malfoy Lord yelled out.

"Crucio!" Dobby cried out and writhed around on the hardwood floor of the Manor. After nearly a minute the spell was released on the elf as Lucius walked past the pitiful thing. He needed to head to the school to keep his claim on the girl and the Parkinson wealth. With barely a glance at the mirror and minimal primping, the leader of the remaining Death Eaters grabbed a handful of floo powder and tossed it in the grate. A curt shout of "Hogwarts, Office of Severus Snape" saw the green flames flicker expectantly a moment before he stepped in and through them to the place where things appeared to be on the move once more.

His arrival in his old friend's office was received a little cooler than Lucius would prefer. _Maybe he'd be more welcoming if I had paid his way out of Azkaban instead of allowing the old fool to champion him._ The greasy haired man had just arrived in the office as well, and he appeared to be quite perturbed. Snape managed to school his features into a blank mask before speaking. "I assume you are here in regards to the Parkinson contract, Lucius?" The blond man showed no surprise at Severus' words, obviously, the incident would have involved her Head of House being present.

"I need information before I head off Parkinson to secure his alliance once more." At this, the Half-Blood Prince nodded. "Who took her virginity?"

"Lockhart." Anger welled in Lucius. Of course, it was the fool Dumbledore hired.

"Was it consensual?" His voice did not betray anger yet.

"No, confundus charm, then rape." Severus was being rather to the point today. It must be draining to deal with a Slytherin parent without the Dark Mark.

"Lockhart will be bound for Azkaban straight away or to the ministry until a trial can be held?"

"Neither," Snape replied, his voice was oddly cool in regards to this matter. Lucius' rage couldn't be contained anymore.

"Explain everything, or I will have the Board of Governors send an evaluator to find you wanting as a Professor!" Snape glared at him. The bastard had the gall to glare at the most prominent Death Eater outside of that hell hole.

"Lockhart was killed not even ten seconds after unsheathing himself from the girl." This stopped Lucius' rampaging emotions immediately. "The Potter brat happened across the event and, using a sword taken from a suit of armor, cut the braggart's head off and burned all but it to ash." No. There was no way the boy could do something like this. Reports from Draco and Snape had said he was bolder and prone to elaborate displays but no child could take the life of another wizard like this. Maybe we can swing this the right direction. Get the petulant child sent to Azkaban for killing a famous member of society. _Like anyone would miss that Half-Blood upstart._

"Has action been levied against the child for killing a member of Magical Britain?"

"No, Amelia Bones and three Aurors confirmed the validity of the memory of the event from both the boy's and Miss Parkinson's memories and found him to be within his rights to stop a clearly ill meaning aggressor from further harming a pureblood." He smiled. "I recommended him for the same award master got for framing the Half-Giant." This shocked the platinum blond.

"Don't tell me you've developed a soft spot for the whelp. He killed our Master and caused many of us to be marginalized!" Rage now graced Severus' face.

"Never! The boy did us a service in killing another Half-Blood and tainting his own soul so the purity we believe wounded the Dark Lord will be a non-issue when he returns." He breathed deeply. "The boy killed him in a rage Lucius. He has the worst traits he could have gotten from James Potter and they will lead to his death. You should hurry, Parkinson asked to speak to both the boy and his daughter privately before I left the Headmaster's office. He will no doubt give them the Staff Room for it." This set Malfoy back on track as he swept from the dungeon office.

It took nearly five minutes to find the bloody room and as he neared the door it opened, producing a somber Lord Parkinson with his tramp daughter and the whelp.

"Again I must thank you, Mister Potter." The man intoned. "Your actions will not be forgotten by my family." The brat immediately saw Lucius and his stoic expression took on a hue of rage. Curiously, he then smiled at the Lord of House Malfoy.

"Lord Malfoy! I see you've spared no expense in arriving here to check on the future of your House Alliance, but I don't see a mask or ten buddies. Will this negotiation be more civil?" The elder Malfoy felt the rage course through him and the grip on his cane tightened considerably. Parkinson stepped in immediately, seeing the build up of anger starting to reach its boiling point within the dark leaning wizard.

"Mister Potter, please try not to antagonize Lord Malfoy." The auburn haired man smiled viciously. "He was a victim of the imperious curse and you know it is most effective against those without much willpower."

* * *

 **Another chapter has ended friends, and now its time to ask another question. Are there any girls/women you would love to see in the harem? I have seen many fictions with Hermione, Luna, Tonks, Fleur, Gabrielle, Daphne, and Ginny. What I haven't seen a lot of are fics with Pansy (long fics there are some good short ones) Bellatrix, Narcissa, Millicent, Susan, Hannah, or even Lavender. So don't be surprised to see some of these underutilized ladies in my story/stories as well as the more usual fair maidens.**


	11. Chapter 11: Aftermath Part 2

**Now the second half of the aftermath folks. Probably ought to warn you going in, we're starting off with a bit of fire and brimstone. I thought you readers, and myself honestly, could use a bit of catharsis after my little clusterfuck with Lockhart. Enjoy the scribbles and bits.**

 ** _§ Parseltongue §_**

 ** _Thoughts_**

 ** _'mental communication'_**

 **I own only my original characters. Harry Potter and his world are the properties of J.K. Rowling.**

 _Chapter Eleven: Aftermath Part 2_

He fell to the floor. It was hard stone if his senses were working properly. The blond man began to rise to his feet. Darkness was all that Gilderoy Lockhart could see around him. _What the hell happened? I was just breaking in the little Parkinson slut and now I'm in a Merlin damned dungeon_. Frigid cold permeated the darkness and drew his attention to the fact that his tackle was hanging out. "Fucking hell!" The wizard fumbled to correct this issue until he heard it. A steady rhythm of taps on the stone floor in the distance betrayed another man, most likely a wizard, heading this way. Gilderoy searched through his robes to find he'd left his wand in his office. _Shit! This will not go well_. The steps stopped immediately, maybe three meters away.

"Hello, Gilderoy." The voice was pure ice that caused the deepest fear he'd ever felt to run through him. "I think it's time for you to see that you do indeed reap what you sow." With a snap, the room was lit with a blinding white light. The wizard covered his eyes until they adjusted to it. Finally, he saw him. A skeletal man stood before him. _Yes! I can beat this weak man without a wand_. Gilderoy lunged forward only to feel the crushing pain of his body hit the stone wall. The man's hand was coiled tightly around his throat and his eyes, oh Merlin the eyes. The pale blue orbs in front of him were the very definition of infuriated. "GILDEROY HELIOS LOCKHART! YOU HAVE DESTROYED HUNDREDS OF YOUNG WITCHES' LIVES WITH YOUR CARNAL VISITATIONS UPON THEIR BODIES!" His grip on Gilderoy's throat tightened unbearably. "I HAVE WAITED YEARS FOR THIS DAY TO COME AND NOW I GET TO DELIVER THE FIRST COURSE OF YOUR PUNISHMENT WITH MY OWN TWO HANDS! IT TOOK HARRY POTTER TWELVE RUN-INS WITH YOU TO FINALLY GET IT RIGHT AND JUST CUT YOUR FILTHY, RAPIST HEAD OFF!" The monster in front of him calmed visibly and dropped Gilderoy to the floor. Wheezing gasps were the only sound filling the room as he clutched at his nearly destroyed throat.

A lightning fast kick sent his body crashing through the stones until he landed in the all too familiar corridor where his office was located. Spluttering and coughing, Lockhart began to curl up in a ball to prepare for further inhumanly powerful strikes from the skeletal bastard. _If only I can get to my office, I can use my wand to fight him off._ Then he heard it. "Well, I think I know how we can get your grade up. It will just require you getting something of mine up." _What in Morgana's name is going on?_ He looked up to see himself ripping into the little slut's clothing to reach that untouched pussy of hers. More pain reached him as a cleanly manicured oxford crushed his wand hand.

"This is not a time to reminisce on your final conquest, filth." The skeletal man ground his foot on his mangled hand until tears and pained screams poured from his orifices. "We are here to watch the youngest and last of the House of Potter kill you and destroy the remains while I show you what all he could have done to your body for just this instance of your sins." Another kick, this time to Gilderoy's head, sent him sailing into the stone wall next to himself and the little whore. His vision faded to black.

"YARGHHH!" Gilderoy felt like he had been used as a lightning rod. His surroundings were brought back into sharp focus by the crackling electricity flowing through him. The monster before him looked positively gleeful.

"We are already at death number one. I had hoped for it to be after we got to talk more." The other Lockhart was working up a sweat as the skeletal man turned to look at the scene. "Ah, we are reaching the climax of this little endeavor. Look, here comes the knight in shining armor now." He gestured to the end of the corridor where the disillusionment charm broke on Harry. The summoning spell drew a hand and a half sword to the boy. Finally, the blade sunk into the other Lockhart's chest followed shortly by the beheading and burning. Gilderoy wept. _So this is why I ended up in the stone room, I'm dead. That must mean..._ "No, filth, I am not Hades. I am his deliverer and I've been given leave to spend some...quality time to show you a sample of what to expect when in His domain. Let's continue." The man vanished.

"Grrghh." His hand blossomed from Gilderoy's chest holding the mangled remains of his lungs. Blood turned the surprised gasp into a wet gurgle as things began to lose focus once again.

"Death number two. Only nine hundred and ninety-eight more to go." A vicious smile graced the man's lips. _Oh, I love my job._

* * *

"Thank you for agreeing to this sit-down Mister Potter." The Auburn haired Lord walking in front of him was clearly known more for his actions than his looks. He stood maybe half a head taller than Harry was now, and possessed a thin build that definitely didn't scream 'dragon handler'. Pansy followed her father like a dutiful daughter should until they had closed the door to the staff room. Then, she tackled the man in a hug and he laughed for a whole five minutes. It was almost uncomfortably warm and forced Harry to avert his eyes. Finally, the Parkinsons sat down across the thick table from him and the Lord took on a more imposing demeanor. "Mister Potter, I am Lord Damien Parkinson. I was shown the memory of the incident and I must say, I felt a great sense of justice seeing you take that bastard's head off and burn the remains." Harry nodded.

"I did what I thought was necessary Sir. Lockhart was doing something I hold in the lowest regard and my instincts took over." The last Potter was growing tired of being diplomatic, three hours of interrogation under Amelia Bones with Moody, Shacklebolt, and Scrimgeour all running backup will do that to a person. "I had hoped to meet you under less...painful circumstances." The man waved him off with ease.

"After hearing and seeing what I have of you today, I'm inclined to offer you my House's alliance and my daughter's hand." At this assertion, both black haired teens turned beet red. This caused a bellow of laughter, very uncharacteristic of a Lord, to leave Damien. "Come now, I was joking about the arranged marriage. I learned my mistake in dealing with the Malfoys."

"What do you mean, Sir? I thought you were quite amiable with the Malfoy family."

"I am amiable with the Malfoy family in the sense that I married Lucius' cousin Maribelle." The Peverell descendant took on a curious look. "I think that more than anything else infuriates the man. I heard rumors back when our marriage was arranged that she was the object of his greatest affections." Disgust now colored the faces of all occupants of the room. "Had they not run here from France two hundred years ago they'd have likely been married and produced more than the single child he has now." A grin of the utmost mischievousness graced Harry Potter's face.

"Thank you for telling me this, Sir. I'm sure I can find a way to make use of the information." _The boy is definitely the son of James Potter. I haven't seen a shit eating grin like that in fifteen years._

"There is a small bit more Mister Potter." Damien took on a more regal tone and straightened his posture. "Lucius secured the contract between our families by telling me that his master had taken steps to survive mundane death. I signed afterward because you had disappeared and none of us knew what was going on with your upbringing. Had I known of your very obvious power, I would have told the blighter to shove the contract up his arse." A look of rage consumed the young boy and he rose from his seat.

"You didn't take the Dark Mark did you?" Magic thrummed through him as he silently adjusted his seal to nineteen percent. The Lord sitting in front of him simply showed his empty hands to Harry.

"No. Only Tom could place the mark on his followers." Lord Parkinson stared at him intensely for a minute before smiling brightly. "Though now that I can see you've been limiting the magic accessible from your core at one time I'm sorry I ever supported Lucius and his band of bigots." Immediately the raven-haired teen's jaw dropped.

"How could you tell?" _Damn it to hell! If he can tell simply when I change it Dumbledore will know now too._ His magic focused in his left palm on instinct.

"What do you know about Mage Sight Harry?"

"Not much. I think some of my history books mention that it's very rare when a witch or wizard has it." He pondered for a moment. "I think it had something to do with seeing the magic itself, not just the colorful discharge many spells have."

"Right in one, Harry." Damien smiled and gestured towards him. "Up until you asked about the Dark Mark your magic was of a similar quantity to Pansy's then, it jumped to twice my capacity. I'd say you could easily take on a handful of Death Eaters if you conserved your strength. I can also tell there is a greater concentration of magic in your left hand. I'd heard you were right handed with a wand so I'm curious to see if you possess a command of wandless magic." The Boy-Who-Lived sighed and smiled at the pair of Parkinsons. With a wave of his left hand, he summoned a tea kettle from the cabinet behind them.

"I've been preparing for Tom's return. I plan on killing him shortly after his resurgence." A look of fierce determination graced his face. Pansy looked at him with an awe he had come to expect from Luna while her father looked on with a somewhat melancholic air.

"You are definitely strong magically Harry, but you will not stand a chance against that inhuman thing they call the Dark Lord." At this statement, Harry laughs and wandlessly transfigures the tea kettle into a small snake. A whisper of _§ be calm little one. No one will hurt you here._ _§_ and the snake coiled up to remain still. The two were concerned to hear the ancient tongue of the snakes from their country's savior.

"I've got a few other surprises for Tom." Holding out his hand the transfigured snake slithers up it and coils again around his elbow. "Even now, my magic is limited Sir. Roughly one-third of my maximum is what you're currently seeing." Their jaws drop. "Is that more up to speed for fighting Voldemort and his lackeys?"

"Much better. I think we are done here, Harry." He looks to the door and grimaces. "Lucius is coming and he will most likely make gestures and reassurances to regain my loyalty." Both men grinned in tandem. "Would you like to try your hand at infuriating him?"

"Why yes, I would Lord Parkinson." Harry gestured towards the door as he adjusted his limiting seal once more. "Do me the honor of leading us out, Sir." Damien headed to and through the door, the teens trailing behind him.

"Again I must thank you, Mister Potter." The man intoned. "Your actions will not be forgotten by my family." Harry saw Lucius as soon as he passed the threshold, rage nearly took him at first, but he managed to reign it in and smile before letting loose his barb.

"Lord Malfoy! I see you've spared no expense in arriving here to check on the future of your House Alliance, but I don't see a mask or ten buddies. Will this negotiation be more civil?" The elder Malfoy could not hide the anger threatening to consume him. Lord Parkinson stepped in immediately, seeing the build up starting to reach its boiling point within the Death Eater.

"Mister Potter, please try not to antagonize Lord Malfoy." The auburn haired man smiled viciously. "He was a victim of the imperious curse and you know it is most effective against those without much willpower." The Lord of House Malfoy's face was purpling with rage, _any moment now he'll burst._

"You'd do well to not throw out the alliance between our Houses for this boy, Damien." A withering look was aimed at the Boy-Who-Lived. "He's not going to go far once he's out of this castle where his actions will be his responsibility." _Ah, the old 'he hides behind Dumbledore's back' insult. How best to needle this blond ponce?_

"Mister Malfoy, are you saying I'm not responsible for my own actions now?" Harry's face was a mask of adolescent innocence. _Come on, take the bait you lousy Death Eater_.

"Of course you are, you foolish child." A superior smirk donned Lucius' face. "Your parents gambled against the most fearsome Dark Lord this country has ever seen and they bore the weight of their responsibility on Halloween nineteen eighty-one." Now it was Harry's turn to feel rage.

"So a pureblood wizard and a muggle born witch dared to challenge a murderer and they got what they deserved?" The last Potter's voice took on an uneven, emotional tone towards the end of the statement. "Do you think just because I'm a half-blood wizard I'm inferior to any of the wizards or witches my age of pureblood ancestry?" With the very real rage hiding under the feigned vulnerability, the raven-haired young man felt his magic respond and permeate his body. He could feel Lord Parkinson's eyes on him. _I wonder how this looks to his Mage Sight._

"Proper pedigree is the most important thing in our society." Lucius had a grin plastered on his face as his gray eyes met the emerald pair before him. "My son is the paragon of pureblood skill when it comes to magic."

"Do you believe that he could beat me in a duel?"

"Without question." Clearly, Lucius has yet to give Draco that master class on sneering.

"Then I challenge your son to a duel, Lord Malfoy."

"I accept on behalf of my House." _He must really have a hate-on for me. Wonder what I did?_

"As it would be a duel between members of old, respectable houses, why not bring a little wager into it?" Harry did his best to hide the smile threatening to creep across his face. "I hear a proper wizard has house elves. How about your house elves become bonded to me if I win, and if Draco wins I give you twenty percent of the contents of my Gringott's vault?" Greed was the first emotion that played across the Death Eater's face, but it was quickly masked with his usual superiority.

"You're not the Head of your House, boy! You can't make any such deal without the power of that seat within the House of Potter." _Oh shit! Until I can visit Gringotts I really am just a member of my House, not the Head of it. C'mon, c'mon, I really need something to make this work_. As if in answer to his prayers, Damien spoke up.

"Well Lucius, I think I can make it worth your elves easily." Malfoy looked like Yuletide had come early. "If Harry loses to Draco, I will formally re-enter the alliance of pureblood families you've started." A wide grin spread across his face.

"I agree to these terms, Damien. Now let us go find the Headmaster so he can referee this duel." The group, now of four, started to make its way to the Great Hall in hopes of catching the Headmaster.

* * *

In an unexpected turn of events, Dumbledore agreed to host and act as the mediator for the duel immediately after lunch. Harry decided to sit with the Parkinsons before the event while observing the Malfoys as they had the Junior Death Eaters gathered around and were, no doubt, formulating a way for Draco to cheat and beat him. The raven-haired teen chuckled a bit after swallowing a bite of salmon and turning to the Parkinsons. "How much do you want to bet they're planning on cursing me once my back is turned?" Pansy shook her head fairly quickly.

"If they do that you can postpone the duel until you're fit to fight." Her father decided to add his two knuts.

"Lucius will assume that you're emotionally fragile due to the event last night." Pansy shivered and the Boy-Who-Lived grinned. "This would be the optimal time for the two of you to duel in his mind. He wouldn't expect a wizard of twelve to be able to do that and not have issues for the next few days if not weeks." _Well, he's not wrong about me being a little shaken up after killing the bastard._

"Yeah, too bad my emotional state isn't something we can use to postpone the duel." He made a point of looking exhausted, which wasn't much of a stretch after his morning.

The food disappeared from the plates throughout the hall and Dumbledore rose, causing a wave of silence to ripple through the assembled student body.

"I hope everyone has eaten well and is ready for a little excitement today." Hushed whispers sprang up around the hall. "Two of our students have agreed to participate in a duel today. Could Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter please come to the front of the hall?" The two students in question rose, one tiredly and the other in a pompous manner, and they strode to the designated area where the Headmaster had erected a raised stone dueling platform. As he made his way up onto the platform Harry felt the familiar tingle of the invisible imperius curse hit his back. A command thundered in his mind in the voice of Lucius Malfoy. _'Once the duel starts, cower in fear until you are defeated.'_ The Last Potter chuckled as he resisted the curse without breaking it, he would wait until the magic containment field was cast by Dumbledore to break it.

It took all of two seconds to cast off the imperious curse. _Wow, Lucy's really lacking for power that isn't political._ The two wizards held their wands over their hearts in salute and almost imperceptively nodded instead of a full bow. Dumbledore's magically magnified yell of, "begin!" set the pair off. Harry let his wand hang loosely in his grip, pointing at the floor while Malfoy began casting all the schoolyard jinxes he could. Jelly legs, slug vomit, and a full body bind masked a cutting curse in the middle of them. _So, hiding a real spell in a bunch of foolish prank ones was his strategy? How boring._ Harry began avoiding the magic hurled at him. The cutter he side stepped, the others he merely leaned this way or that to avoid them. A second volley had a piercing hex mixed into the fodder and the Boy-Who-Lived simply ducked it. A deep sigh escaped him.

"Malfoy, why don't you throw more than one dangerous curse per volley. It's too easy to dodge them all." The boy turned beet red at Harry's remark and dispensed a handful of slightly stronger curses. The throwing charm, a piercer, a disarming charm, and finally the spell he'd been expecting since Harry challenged Lord Malfoy.

"Serpensortia!" The bellowed last curse flung a cobra at him. A forward jump turned into a roll to the left which caused the first three spells to miss. The cobra hurtling towards him gave Harry a few ideas for humiliating the foolish child. With a flick of his wand, the first offensive motion of the duel for him, he cried out.

"Everte statem!" The spell struck the flying snake and sent it back towards the now screaming Draco. No one noticed the modified disarming charm Harry paired with the throwing charm to disarm the blond ponce. As the serpent landed on his robes the blackthorn wand flew from his hand. The Peverell heir sighed in contentment as he lowered his wand, expecting the duel to be over.

"Incendio, INCENDIO!" Draco had another wand. _Well, redundancy is a trait worthy of admiration._ The first fire conjuring spell turned the cobra to a pile of ash, and the second gout of fire was surging towards him. _Fine, force it is_. His arm snapped back up.

"Finite incantatem! Expelliarmus!" The flames disappeared and the bolt of magic struck Malfoy dead in the chest, sending the nearly identical wand flying even further from the young wizard. The Hall erupted in applause. Mentally, the winner was kicking himself. _Four spells to beat this imbecile? If I were still suffering from the exhaustion that ritual caused I'd have fainted and lost_. Dumbledore declared Harry the winner and dispelled the magic field around the platform. Immediately Marcus Flint jumped to his feet and screamed out.

"Lacero!" The wide cutting curse flew at Britain's savior and he felt the familiar tingle of joy the imperius curse caused. _'Stand your ground. Take the spell head on.'_ The magic was moving fast at him, he barely broke the enslavement spell with enough time to dive to the left. The curse nicked the right side of his neck before colliding with Albus' shield charm. A body bind spell, courtesy of Pansy, hit Flint and he toppled to the ground, landing hard on his face. Damien rose with fury plastered over his kindly features and a glowing wand tip.

"As Lord Parkinson, I deplore the actions a student, and adult in our society has committed against a member of a noble House." With a snap of his fingers, an elf appeared at his side. This was the first elf Harry had seen that could speak proper English, or that wore something other than a pillowcase for clothing. A French maid uniform may have been a little on the nose but it was a vast improvement over the alternative. He silently wondered if there were more elves like her.

"Yes, Master Parkinson?" The little elf bowed slightly.

"Tulip, please go fetch Madam Bones, tell her an adult student made an attempt to take the life of Harry Potter." With a short curtsy, the little creature vanished. Harry, holding his neck where he'd been cut, was striding towards Lord Malfoy.

"I believe you have a wager to honor, Sir." This was what he wanted for every one of these cowards. A spectacle to show that he was not just famous for a Dark Lord having a spell rebound and kill him, but that he was a wizard of substantial power and skill in his own right. The pureblood Lord looked like he'd just heard the raid on a muggle village had been canceled. Finally, the nearly purpling warlock called out three names.

"Sprinkles, Dobby, Posey!" Three disheveled elves popped into the Great Hall beside Lucius. Dobby noticed a wounded Boy-Who-Lived and began to duck behind the other two elves.

"Come now Lucius, complete the transfer." Damien was amused greatly by the loss of the Malfoy elves, hell if one of Lucius' top recruits to his 'pureblood purist' group hadn't attacked Harry he would have been dancing for joy. The prim and proper blond waved his wand once, conjuring three socks and gave them to the elves.

"You are freed elves. This...boy will be willing to take you as his own." He began to turn and stalk from the hallway as the raven haired teen called out.

"Dobby. Now that you're free and soon to be a Potter elf, were you three the only elves the Malfoy family is bonded to?" Anyone that cared to study Malfoy's face at that moment before the elf's response would have thought Harry had just killed all of the Lord's family and stolen his gold. Dobby winced a little, the need to punish himself finally gone and replied to his idol.

"There's being one more elf Great Harry Potter Sir!" He meekly looks at his bare feet. "She ams old Master's personal pleasure elf." Faces all throughout the hall, including the staff, curled in disgust. Last time around Harry had heard nothing of a pleasure elf but he could guess what the job entailed. A cold shiver shook his form as he imagined how a grown human would even attempt to copulate with a house elf. The size disparity alone would make it hell on the elf.

"It was for all your elves Lord Malfoy, not just the ones who don't share your bed." Several Slytherin students snickered but that was drowned out by the indignant rage and dubious laughter coming from the students occupying the other three House's tables. Pansy herself had gone deathly white at the thought. _At least I know she's as disgusted as I am by this._ Finally regaining his composure, the embarrassed Lord called out the final elf's name.

"Scarlet!" This pop was louder and the elf that arrived was far from what Harry or many of the students expected. She was nearly four feet tall, with a full head of silky blonde hair flowing to her feet, the only indication that this was an elf was her ears that ended in soft points. Unlike her fellow Malfoy elves, Scarlet wore tight rags that barely covered her bits. _Clearly, old Lucy has a thing for adolescent girls, then again he was likely planning on taking Pansy far before Draco ever could._ The conjured sock passed to her and broke her bond with the vile Death Eater. She quickly moved to stand by the other recently freed elves. Harry made to walk just in front of the elves before crouching down so he could speak with them on their level.

"Dobby, Posey, Scarlet, and Sprinkles, I am about to bond with you but I don't know the words to the ceremony. Could one of you help me?" Posey spoke up first to the man in a boy's body.

"You's be needing to touch our magic with yours and says the following. I, you's name, accept and bond us elves to your service by name then, we's accept it and our magic bonds together." _Well, at least it's simple._ With a deep breath, Harry adjusted his limiting seal to five percent silently. His magic coursed out and touched the four elves.

"I, Harry Potter, accept and bond Dobby, Scarlet, Sprinkles, and Posey the elves to my family as members of my House." A pin could drop in the astronomy tower and Harry could hear it with the sudden absence of sound in the hall. The elves all had wide eyes and tears forming as they all accepted the bonds of family, rather than servitude. A blinding flash of light enveloped the five and when it gave way all the elves were taller by nearly a foot, healthier looking, and clad in clothes befitting their station as Potters, a semi-military uniform with the Potter family crest adorning the right breast pocket. Dobby's smile was viciously happy whereas the female elves had more restrained smiles on their faces. No one saw the Malfoy Patriarch sweep from the hall out towards Hogsmeade. Harry sighed deeply. Now, it's time to deal with Amelia again.

* * *

Bloodscraper had been the liaison to pureblood wizards within Gringotts for nearly forty years. He stood slightly taller than the average goblin due to his heritage, it was highly uncommon for a son to an orc and a goblin to hold a position at all within the bank. Though the idea of having to interact with a group of wizards and witches who saw him not as a member of another race, but as a money grubbing creature turned his stomach and made him ache for the old Goblin Rebellions. In his youth, he had made a point to learn the art of war in the depths of the Goblin Nation and craved combat from time to time. Luckily there was always a younger goblin looking to take his position via the right of conquest or he'd never sate his lust for battle. A small bell went off on his desk indicating that a Lord was here to see him. He gruffly grunted out the words, "come in." In walked one of Bloodscraper's least favorite people, goblins included. "Ah Lord Malfoy, what brings you here today?" The man looked absolutely furious.

"I would like to buy a number of your anti-wizard guards." The man's hands were clenched tightly around the cobra's head grip on his cane.

"The rate for employing a small squadron of orcish fighters is one hundred galleons every three months. They can be deployed to your manor or whatever location you desire as you leave Gringotts today."

"How many in a small squadron?"

"Eight warriors and two battle medics."

"I'll take three small squadrons with me back to Malfoy manor." The Lord began to rise as he said, "take the funds from my account and I wish to inspect them before we depart." Bloodscraper smiled toothily as he filled out a small scrap of parchment and with a snap it disappeared. He rose as well and gestured to the stone door to more private areas of the surface level.

"Please follow me to the private portkey room, Lord Malfoy." He grinned viciously as the Lord followed him out. _When will these impotent Lords learn that how to protect themselves. Oh well, this at least fills our coffers nicely._

* * *

The proceedings after Malfoy left were quite exhausting. In fact, the Boy-Who-Lived stole off to the second year Gryffindor dorms for a nap before getting to know his new elves. Scarlet had attempted to help him 'keep his bed warm' so vigorously that Harry had to order her away, something that that familial bond didn't seem to prevent. A few fitful hours of sleep later Harry woke with a start, magic swirling around him. Without bidding the four elves arrived with loud cracks. Dobby was the first to speak this time.

"Great Master Harry Potter Sir, Professor Dumbledore has requested your presence in his office." The little elf saluted Harry. _Well, that's what I get for giving them military uniforms._

"Got it Dobby." The young boy rose from his bed and redressed. Walking into the common room caused a cheer to erupt. Apparently, his fellow year mates were happy to see Draco beaten and his father humiliated. Who would have thought? After a plethora of pats on the back and compliments from the upper year students on his use of agility during the duel, he made it out into the corridor. _Phew_. He bolted to the Headmaster's office. Upon reaching the corridor adjacent he stopped to catch his breath and run through some quick occlumency exercises prior to approaching the stone gargoyle standing sentinel before the entrance. As it saw him, it began to step aside. _That's new. Usually, the blasted thing makes me guess candies for a minute or two before relenting._ The ascension of the spiral staircase was a quick one, Harry elected to move instead of simply allowing it to take him up at a sedated pace. A calm yet risen call of , "enter," brought him through the door and he took a seat across from the most powerful wizard alive at the moment.

"Hello, Mister Potter." His tone this evening was downright genial. "I need to speak with you about a few things, but first and foremost I must apologize." The Boy-Who-Lived was intrigued, Dumbledore rarely apologized and his tone was far from the condescending one he'd seen the last time around. He waited for the man to elaborate. With a sigh, the wizened warlock began. "I have wanted you to have a normal childhood, Harry, and instead you've taken two lives at the tender age of twelve. At the end of last school year, you asked me why Voldemort singled you out, attacked your family, and tried to kill you again from within Professor Quirrell." He gulped audibly. "I did not have the heart to tell you the truth then. Last night, you killed a man who was independently evil. I normally do not condone violence Harry, but in this case, I wholeheartedly support your methods." He conjured a crystal decanter of water and two glasses, filled them, and handed one to the young wizard. "Have you ever heard of wizards being referred to as Warriors of the Light?"

"Reading through the history of Britain's dark lords and their vanquishers I've come across the term a few times Sir." Albus knew that Harry had bought quite a few more books than were required this year but hadn't thought the young wizard would have already burned through the more boring text already.

"Right in one Harry. Many wizards over the course of Britain's history have been referred to as Warriors of the Light. This is because they were indeed warriors, men and women that served as arbiters of all that the Light symbolized. They took lives, nearly as many as any dark wizard would have done, but it was in retribution for atrocities committed by the darkest of wizards and witches." A light tap of his wand on his glass transfigured the water into an amber liquid Harry guessed was firewhiskey. He capitalized on the temporary lull in Dumbledore's little speech.

"Are you implying that I could be a warrior for the side of the Light, Headmaster?" The bearded man downed his liquor all at once.

"Yes, Harry. The way you ran headlong into a situation that could have ended in your death reminded me of the old murals of Godric himself. Aside from Merlin, he was considered to be the very first Warrior of the Light. What I saw in that memory, and in the way you have been acting this year has convinced me of something. You are meant to be this era's Warrior. I will endeavor to help you in your training when I can offer the resources." Harry was floored, wasn't he supposed to lecture him on the sanctity of every being's life and tell him that killing was a path to darkness?

"I don't know what to say, Sir." He needed to play this right. If Dumbledore condoned him becoming an arbiter of justice he could openly practice the sword instead of sneaking to the Room of Requirement every day to put in a good eight hours. "If you think this is the right path I will definitely train diligently."

"Your approach in handling the former Professor was good for an amateur but sloppy for a trained swordsman. Using a blade is a valuable skill that will help in overcoming opponents who only value magical strength and not the physical kind. I must confess I did not have the patience to learn its uses, however, we happen to have a member of our staff with skill in that particular area." The aged warlock poured himself another glass of water with one hand and transfigured it into the same amber liquid mid-pour. "Professor Flitwick is an accomplished duelist in both magical and non-magical fields. Being of partial goblin descent has its perks it would seem. I shall send an elf to him tomorrow and he will contact you in the next few days to begin training you." He sipped this glass tentatively, maybe the first had hit him too hard.

"That's wonderful Sir. Is that all you needed to speak with me about?" He was curious to see if this change in Dumbledore would lead to talk of the prophecy.

"No, my boy, there is one more thing to discuss." He seemed to deflate a little in his cushioned chair. "I think it's time for you to know why Voldemort chose you all those years ago." _Holy shit! He's going to tell me three years earlier than last time._ Albus continued, "nearly a month before you were born, a seer made a prophecy involving a child and Voldemort. It alluded to a child born as the seventh month dies, only they could defeat the Dark Lord. I think you should hear the exact wording, though, hold on a moment." he retrieved the pensieve from the dark cabinet the Sorting Hat rested on and tapped it a few times, causing a blue spectral figure to rise from the bowl. In a raspy voice, the woman intoned.

"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives... the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies..."

* * *

 **Sixty-five thousand words have been reached, another chapter has come to an end and I've got a new question. Am I being a little too rough with the violence in this story? I will begin posting the best concerns and or questions asked in my pre-chapter author's notes along with responses just in case everyone would like answers to some of them.**


	12. Chapter 12: Ritualism

**Today is a new day people and I proudly present to you the new chapter of my story.**

 **So a few people have asked why Lucius wasn't caught casting the imperious curse twice in the Great Hall, surrounded by staff and students. In the books and movies, I have never seen this specific piece of magic have a color or a specific physical manifestation as many spells do. It's invisible, which leads me to believe its a charm.**

 **Another concern was why would Dumbledore need his manipulations of Harry to become the Minister of Magic as he could have the seat at any time. What one must understand is that Dumbledore wants to highly limit the entirety of magical Britain and he'd have a very vocal opposing force with Voldemort and his minions around hence the need for Harry to finish him off and it all be Dumbledore's wondrous planning that caused it.**

 **That should be it on the questions raised for now so, enjoy.**

 ** _§ Parseltongue §_**

 ** _Thoughts_**

 ** _'mental communication'_**

 **I own only my original characters. Harry Potter and his world are the properties of J.K. Rowling.**

 _Chapter Twelve: Ritualism_

The next few days passed with quite a few new occurrences and annoyances beginning with Scarlet. Every morning and evening she insisted on popping into his bed and trying to help him 'release his pent up stress'. On two occasions she'd even managed to get him out of his boxers, proceeding to tell him in a sickly sweet voice that he was 'livelier than old bad master'. This sickened Harry greatly, he loathed being compared to Lucius even if it was just in reference to his bits. The part of him that trained for over a century without any interaction outside of fighting the reaper was warring with him constantly. It simply wanted to take Scarlet over and over again until his pent up lust was sated. Hell, it was partially why she always found him hard when she descended on him. Aside from how his bonded elf was acting he had a variety of strange encounters over the days leading up to Saturday. Girls from every House in his year approached him and thanked him for what he did. It was Wednesday when he was first approached by an unlikely pair.

* * *

Stacks of books surrounded the corner desk in the cold library. These books were the thickest to be found and left unopened, barricading one student from the remainder of the student body. Few reached the depths of this cold, unforgiving wing of the library. The average person would miss the fact that a young man with a messy crop of black hair and emerald eyes had hidden away to avoid the well-wishers. The official story that the Daily Prophet and the Headmaster had put out into the world was that Harry had happened upon Lockhart while he accosted an unnamed student, at which point he disarmed and restrained the man and immediately involved the authorities. His schoolmates ate that cock and bull story up, but he was certain quite a few knew the real story. Draco definitely knew, which meant the older students angling to join Lucius as whatever he called his allies knew as well. Malfoy had begun to avoid leaving the dungeon common room unless he had a class. _I wonder if he's being punished or tutored._ Pansy was being rather tight-lipped about it, though she had developed a habit of catching him when he was nearly alone and hugging him as if he were the last life preserver on the Titanic. He found it rather endearing but Ron had seen it happen a few times and seemed to hate her interacting with him. He'd had to remind his friend that letting emotions dictate his every action could cause problems like he had earlier in the year.

Harry's musings on the hot-headed first among his friends were interrupted by the sound of shoes on stone and a seemingly feminine cough, no doubt to get his attention. Looking towards the noise he saw a pair he'd not expected to see. The sturdy form of Milicent Bulstrode stood sentinel behind The Ice Queen herself, Daphne Greengrass. Her obsidian black hair fell well past her shoulder and her high features were schooled into her trademark emotionless mask. At least, that's what twelve-year-old Harry Potter saw in the pureblood. Harry Potter, roughly one hundred and twenty-eight-year-old, saw the respect and admiration behind her eyes and the tension in her neck as if she were fighting her instincts. _That's definitely fear._ He'd expected as much after holding back against Malfoy. Sure, some seventh years dismissed it as a clearly defensive style, that he let Draco wear himself out with nearly fifteen hexes before casting three spells, all of which were lightly taxing, to defeat the poster child of the pureblood supremacy. The wisest of the students saw the duel for what it really was, Harry displaying just how far below him his "rival" really is. Daphne spoke to him after coughing once more.

"Mister Potter." She bowed her head slightly, apparently, this was a greeting. _Well, I guess I get to be formal today._ Harry rose from his seat until he was in a similar upright position. With a deeper bow of his own head he responded.

"Miss Greengrass, Miss Bulstrode. How may this humble half blood help you today?" The pair were taken back a bit by his response. _I guess I haven't always been good when it comes to decorum and manners._ The startled speaker of the Slytherin girls proceeded.

"I wanted to speak with you about what you did for Pansy." Her ice blue eyes studied the completely passive expression on the face of the Boy-Who-Lived and saw that no response was coming from him so she continued. "She has been having trouble sleeping. She mentions you in her fits, something about saving her." Again the teen studied him before adding more to her story. "When we pressed her, she told us what really happened. I knew that members of your House were meant to be brave, but you killed a man with a sword. How are you not falling apart from guilt in Azkaban?" He quickly checked to see if anyone else was within earshot before drawing his wand and erecting a relatively weak silencing ward. This drew concerned looks from both girls and they drew their own wands. As he finished his spellwork, he stowed his wand again. _Not that having empty hands makes me any less dangerous._

"Yes. I killed Lockhart for what he was doing to her." He let a small amount of rage slip past his mask and alter his expression. "I will kill again if I see an atrocity being forced on innocents. I may be from the House of the foolishly brave but I know what I can and can't achieve." The girls had a sharp intake of breath at his willingness to mete out justice. Daphne's mask had all but broken and he could see some raw emotion he had trouble identifying. Milicent was looking like Christmas had come early, though. She spoke for the first time Harry had ever heard then.

"The fifth year prefect told us that the next two years will be tough for all of us in the dungeons." This peaked Harry's interest. He knew little of the climate within the Snake Pit. "The older boys will notice when we mature and will insist on making sure we 'get a head start on learning how to please our future Lord husbands.' As if I'd ever marry a Lord." A very real rage surged through the Boy-Who-Lived.

"So they will take you?" Both of his fists were clenched and his magic was permeating his body.

"Daphne, Tracey, Pansy and Lily will be the choices for the more well-connected older years. I will probably end up being shared by Crabbe and Goyle or used as a warm up before getting to the more pretty girls." Daphne moved to put a comforting hand on Milicent's shoulder but Harry beat her to it. With such close proximity to the two now they could feel the roiling magic now outside his body and both shivered in fear. Someone like this was powerful and not to be crossed. At barely more than a whisper, the raven haired wizard spoke.

"I will put a stop to this." His mind went directly to entering the Slytherin Common Room and beating all the male students second-year and up to a pulp. That was too brash a response, though. He needed a more cunning method for discouraging this activity. "You have my word as the next Lord of House Potter." Before they could respond he summoned his disguised family grimoire, broke his silencing ward, and stalked out of the library. _Time to see if Dumbledore really is going to work with me this time around._

* * *

His conversation with the Headmaster went swimmingly, ending in Snape being called and a discussion of what measures could prevent abuse without maiming students. Harry had thought the maiming was getting off lightly but had to concede to passive methods of prevention as this was indeed a school. He'd have to wait until summer to begin truly meting out his wrath on the Death Eaters and their allies. Duplicates of many former Headmasters' and Headmistresses' portraits had been made and would reside in every room of the Slytherin common room and dorms. The measure wouldn't stop the problem altogether, but it would alert the Headmaster to how often these things happened. His rage had not fully subsided so he decided to put in a little training time with Anne. He'd been working on a surprise for the reaper in his off time and his current mood might give him the advantage he wanted.

When the raven haired boy entered the room of requirement Anne was standing sentinel as always, she'd given him one more scar across his waist the night before. It was small in comparison to the others but it still irked him greatly. Her sword materialized as soon as the door shut and her stance was set in a purely defensive manner. The variety of blades around the room meant he could get away with not immediately summoning one, he'd taken to only using his physical skills and his augmentations for training with the blonde reaper. Immediately running towards her, he focused his magic into his arms. Anne ducked and thrust out with her blade at his midsection. He let the tip of the blade get near his stomach before attempting to push off it with his hand. His weight appeared to be too much and it sailed down between his legs. With the free hand, he gripped her wrist as he spoke, barely in a whisper, "lumos maxima." His eyes were tightly closed as a blinding flash was emitted from his free hand, now ten inches from Anne's face. Her yell in response to this told him all he needed to know.

"Fuckin' bright!" Her eyes were squinted shut as his opened. _Success!_ Her empty hand had come up to her face, leaving the other only loosely grasping the blade he so hated. Harry grabbed the blade just above the guard and wrenched it clockwise as he wrenched the blonde's hand counter clockwise, freeing the blade of her grip. This was where the plan went sideways. Apparently, a runed blade given to a reaper if not made by Joe himself was fucking heavy. The thud of it landing on the floor seemed to bring Anne back to the right state of mind. The Boy-Who-Lived rolled to the side, casting an overpowered throwing charm at the blade, which sent it flying halfway across the room. He finally summoned a set of cutlasses to him silently as he charged the blonde again. The temporary sensory overload was wearing off and she could hear him approaching as she stretched out her left hand crying out, "accio!" No! Harry uncurled his pointer finger and yelled out a new curse he'd read in his family Grimoire.

"Chromati orbem, frigus!" A perfect sphere of ice, nearly six inches in diameter, formed in front of his hand and darted at Anne with haste. She turned to him, staring at the ball flying towards her, and dove out of the way. This agile movement gave him time to cast a powerful banishment charm on the reaper's blade, affixing it to the wall furthest from the pair. Continuously pumping magic into the charm would drain him, luckily for him, the spell was not a heavy burden to bear. He pushed the advance on the blonde, forcing her into defensive tactics and further from her blade. Dodging every stroke was impossible for her and he began to slowly wear her down. A few harmless strikes to her forearms first, meant more to sting than to debilitate, followed by disrupting her movements with strikes to her legs. Eventually, a well-timed strike on her right ankle knocked Anne flat on her back.

"Oomph!" Capitalizing on her downed position, Harry sat on her stomach and crossed his swords just under her chin. This elicited a second groan from the woman and a vicious laugh from him. With a satisfied sigh, he began.

"You make an excellent pillow, Anne. It's always good to take a seat after a good little workout." Her hands began to move up as he pinched her throat between his blades, giving him the time to put his feet in the crooks on her elbows. It wouldn't do if she were able to break out of this hold now, would it? "Calm down, reaper. I doubt I could kill you but this must be really embarrassing, especially if your master is watching. So let's get this little negotiation over with real quick. Mmkay?" A frustrated grunt was all he got in response. "Good girl. First, I'm sick and fucking tired of you scarring me with that sword, so you're not going to use it in our fights anymore. Second, I want to know more about you. How is it that you can use magic? Also, why the hell is your sword so heavy? I couldn't even lift it."

"In life, I was a witch and a swordsman. As for the sword, it can only be wielded by those attuned to it. Only Master and I are attuned to my sword, so naturally, you couldn't pick it up." She struggled weakly against the weight of the young man on her before continuing. "The scars were to bring out the versatile warrior in you. Until now, you've settled on just your muscles for fighting me. To face what's ahead you need to be both a fighter and a mage." Harry pondered this briefly before beginning.

"Here I thought all you reapers were just skilled fighters that Joe chose." The wizard backed the cutlasses off from Anne's neck and smiled warmly. "So as long as I fight you to the best of my abilities, no more scars? You'll use blades from this room and not that runed one?" She nodded curtly. He rolled swiftly backward and to his feet as Anne leaped to her feet calling out "accio." A shortsword flew into her outstretched hand and the fight was back on. A vicious smile graced Harry's face. "I love this shit!"

* * *

Friday was a very dull affair after two days of 'versatility' training Harry was feeling extremely exhausted. Who would have known that employing magic constantly during an already physically taxing activity would be so draining? He'd ended up using far more magic as a distraction than he thought he'd need to for fighting the blonde reaper. Apparently, she had been holding back magically as well and flung an endless cycle of five to ten curses at him while she struck at him with swords from the room. This exhaustion led to the Peverell heir breaking more than his fair share of quills during the tediously long written work his professors gave. By the end of the school day, Harry decided to visit Boros and see if they could knock the rituals out early as he had lived more than a week in five days thanks to the time turners in the room of requirement.

A disillusionment charm hid Harry from the sole occupant of the second-floor girl's room as she was washing her hands and humming quietly to herself. Five full minutes later a first-year girl he didn't quite recognize strolled out of the restroom and it was once again vacant. A quick bit of parseltongue and Harry was moving down the staircase to his favorite chamber in the castle. The stone walls were spotless by now, with a torch hanging every fifteen feet along the wall in a sconce. Boros was a keen cleaner. Perhaps he could replace Filch, he couldn't be more hostile to students than that old bastard.

As he passed through the door to the chamber proper, the last Potter saw the basilisk in his natural form, curled up and apparently sleeping. Creeping closer, Harry decided to sit cross-legged in front of the great beast's face. Time passed and nearly thirty minutes later Boros spoke. _§ You know you could have just announced yourself when you arrived._ _§_

 _§ I needed a little break from the minutia of the day and Occlumency exercises ensured I didn't waste the half hour sitting here with you._ _§_ Exhaustion was heavy in the boy's voice and the massive snake began to slither up into the statue of his master, emerging a few minutes later fully dressed in his human form.

 _§ There is still a day until your body will be able to handle the rituals._ _§_ Harry leaped to his feet and began stretching his tense muscles in his legs and back.

 _§ I recovered already by spending a week in the room of requirement using a time turner._ _§_ Boros looked surprised at this piece of news and simply nodded for him to proceed to the ritual room. The two made their way to the large room already decorated in runes composed of various materials.

 _§ What materials are used in this ritual?_ _§_ He saw a green substance, two different shades of red, a black, and four shades of blue all forming unique geometry and runes along the floor. Boros chuckled at his question.

 _§ These rituals were fairly small to set up so I did it all at once. The ritual involving the merfolk skin, tentacle of a kraken and nutrient poultice is to correct your malnutrition._ _§_ He indicated the leftmost section that was a variety of five point arrays with runes he couldn't identify. _§ Next is the body enhancement ritual using vampire's blood, unicorn saliva, and liquefied griffon feathers._ _§_ He gestured to the second, larger diagram using seven and three-point arrays. Boros continued, _§ and last is the ritual of assimilation using mine and acromantula blood, broken down musculature from a centaur, and your choice of incubus pituitary gland, werewolf teeth, or a dragon's elemental core._ _§_ Harry scratched his head as Boros indicated the third and smallest of the three ritual diagrams.

 _§ Okay. First, how are those three ingredients going to enhance my body? Second, why do I get a choice on the last ritual and how do those options change the outcome of the magic?_ _§_ Boros hissed out a laugh.

 _§ The mixture using vampire's blood will grant you a greater endurance and faster healing without the downside of vampirism._ _§_ Harry nodded at this. _§ The different final ingredients will give you a different trait based on your choice._ _§_ The snake man began to tick off fingers in sync with his information. _§ The pituitary gland will give you the extra hormones incubi possess which make them one of the strongest magical beings. The teeth will grant you a resistance to physical damage. Finally, the elemental core will give you a dragon's greatest gift; the ability to breath an elemental force._ _§_ A look of contemplation passed over Ouroboros' face for a moment.

 _§ An elemental force? I thought all dragons could breathe was fire._ _§_

 _§ Incorrect. The different breeds of dragon can breathe different elements. The elemental core in storage is from a Peruvian Vipertooth so the elemental breath you would have access to is poison. Not as potent as my brand but strong enough to kill almost any wizard with the advantage of a non-bite delivery system._ _§_ He laughed again. _§ Of course, all three rituals will require three pints of your blood to make the changes permanent. Are you ready to begin?_ _§_

The Peverell heir set to thinking. What would terrify his friends the least? A stronger body, a tougher body, or an insane ability to breathe poison? The benefits of each would be great, but the choice he makes should have no detriment attached. Poison breath would be a great thing to have, but there would always need to be no survivors when he used it or he'd be labeled dark. The greater physical resistance would be great for fights but would make the use of blood magic much harder and he had to admit he was interested in its applications outside of rituals. _§ Looks like the extra strength will be what I'm taking today, Boros._ _§_ The basilisk walked off and into one of the other rooms, returning shortly with a small crystal vial filled with a small gray bit of tissue he knew was the pituitary gland.

 _§ For the first ritual, you need to fill in the spaces in the array with your blood. Do not break any of the existing lines with your blood._ _§_ He gestured at the five point array on the floor and Harry set to work. Bleeding for a purpose was beginning to grow on the last Potter. Arranging the blood in the way he needed to, however, was not. Twenty minutes passed before he had acceptably coated the spaces in the array. He looked up at Ouroboros with a questioning glance as the yellow-eyed man produced a ring that could put Joe's suits to shame. As he placed it in Harry's hand, the Boy-Who-Lived noticed the dark ring was definitely not made of any kind of metal he'd seen before. It was light, cold, and the color of the void.

 _§ Place this ring on your finger and speak the words 'prima fronte.' It will record how your body looks at the moment. You will use it again after the changes are complete and until you leave this school for your home. Allow the blood in the center of the array to dry, then you need to disrobe, stand there and focus your magic into the points of the array while I activate the other part of the ritual._ _§_

 _§ Why do I need to be naked?_ _§_

 _§ Your body is about to have its malnutrition problem corrected. It will grow more robust to reflect your peak condition._ _§_

 _§ And my clothes as they are now may not fit me. I'm keeping the cloak on, though._ _§_ The jet-haired boy followed instructions with his one self-imposed addendum and stood at the center of the fully functional array. He intoned the words as he slipped the ring on his finger and felt his magic being pulled into the ring for a moment before it subsided. Charging the array was simple while Boros walked slowly around him, depositing a small amount of the poultice at each point and every other space in the array. As the last touches were finished and Boros stepped aside, Harry began to feel a deep burning sensation starting in his core and, in an agonizingly slow method, spreading throughout his body. A rough growl escaped his throat as he managed to will himself to stay conscious this time. _§ Is it supposed to feel like dragon fire is burning me up from the inside out?_ _§_ His fists were balled up so tightly his nails pierced his flesh, joining the flow coming from his wrists. Finally, his whole body was burning up and a feral yell escaped the young wizard.

As soon as it had started, it stopped. The ritual circle had burned away and he was left standing on blackened marble with naught but his cloak to cover himself. Everything felt...off. His balance, the weight of his limbs, the magic flowing through him, and his sight were all disrupted. Removing his glasses cleared up his sight issue immediately. _Oh yeah, this corrected my physical issues. I'm going to need to replace the lenses of my glasses._ He summoned his boxers wandlessly and after covering his now slightly larger tackle, he dropped the cloak and began to inspect his body. His muscles hadn't grown much, they had become more toned, defined. His limbs were longer than he remembered, knees not knobbly anymore. _I guess that means I'm taller too._ His brief inspection turned into an acrobatic display as he began to dodge left and right, balance himself on one hand, and jump nearly half again as high as he normally could.

 _§ Has the ritual achieved what you'd hoped?_ _§_ Harry barked out a laugh before he began to stumble. _Oh yeah, blood loss._

 _§ With the exception of the three pints I just burned up, I feel splendid. How long until we start the next one?_ _§_ Ouroboros threw a small bottle of pale pink liquid at him.

 _§ Drink that, it is a blood replenishing potion._ _§_ The snake man gestured to the second set of arrays. _§ Using your blood, outline the whole ritual area inside and out with half-inch dots of your blood a full inch offsetting the existing work._ _§_ The black haired basilisk cut into his wrist lightly and drew a small triangle on the wall, then proceeded to add the dotted pattern around it. _§ The outline should resemble this._ _§_

 _§ Yes, Master. At once._ _§_ The young wizard downed his drought and began to work on his latest piece of what he referred to as art. This one took nearly three-quarters of an hour to complete. Again he was directed to stand at the center of the pattern and charge each point in the array. The sensations this time began in his chest and traveled throughout his body on a path eerily similar to how he understood his vascular system was set up. It felt more like a rush of ice flowing through his veins than the fiery burn of the previous ritual. It took a total of maybe ten minutes of feeling like he was going to turn into a snowman before the circle beneath him began to flake away as if a breeze had just blown through the room. A thought occurred to the Peverell heir and he held his opened wrists up to view them seemingly knit back together slowly. Boros hissed a laugh out once more.

 _§ You will now heal at twice the speed of an average wizard. Sadly, this means you may have to cut into yourself more than once for the last ritual._ _§_ The king of snakes gestured to the smallest and final ritual array and handed Harry a large silver basin with another blood replenisher. _§ This last ritual requires a great amount of accuracy in the rune work. Also, the rune work will need to be on your body._ _§_ He coughed and Harry could swear he saw a red shade creep onto the man's features. _§_ _The entire body._ _§_ At this point, he drained the last potion, cut his wrists with wandless magic and began to drain his lifeblood once more.

 _§ Can I be unconscious for this one? Please?_ _§_ The thousand-year-old basilisk sighed.

 _§ Sadly, no. You must be standing for this. Though you will be put under once the ritual begins._ _§_ A growl sounded out from the teen's throat. He shoved the basin into Boros' hands.

 _§ Blood drained. Do what you need to, I'm retreating into my mind for some occlumency exercises._ _§_ The world drifted away rather quickly until he felt a sharp pain between his eyes. He was instructed to once again charge the arrays points and given a command word to begin the ritual. The points were charged and he concentrated hard as he spoke, "Sacrorum!" He was taken by darkness. He felt strange, not so much pain as pure discomfort. When he awoke he felt like he was made of iron. His body had changed, not in size but in some other way. _§ Okay, is this what more strength feels like?_ _§_ Boros laughed at this.

 _§ You feel as though your body is made of steel now, yes?_ _§_ He nodded. _§ Two things set Incubi apart from wizards, Harry. First, their muscles are the same size as a human's, but five times as dense. Making an Incubus nearly untouchable in a physical fight. Second, their hormones grant a nearly legendary libido, and an enhancement to the reproductive organs. Go on, check yourself out._ _§_ He looked down and his eyes nearly popped out of his head at the sight of himself. He was okay before, but now he was harboring a fucking monster between his legs. The human snake laughed even more at the teen. When his glee subsided he gestured at the ring on Harry's hand. _§ Now that you've inspected your changes, focus on that ring and say 'facies_ _secunda.' Follow it up with 'transistus' and you're ready to return to the school at large._ _§_ Harry intoned the words and his body shifted to the way it was before the three rituals. The Boy-Who-Lived gestured towards the incredible ring on his right forefinger.

 _§ So this will hide all that's been done to me?_ _§_

 _§ Yes and no. As long as you wear it, it will slowly transition from the first to the second set form, giving the appearance of normal aging. If you remove it you'll look as you truly do now, and it will not disrupt the transition process while wearing it. By the summer you should be able to remove the ring altogether, though I imagine you'll have grown more mature by then._ _§_ The raven-haired teen laughed maniacally as he clothed himself once more and began to head out of the chamber. As he reached the base of the stairs, Boros called out one last bit of information for the young man. _§ By the way, you're going to want to sate your lust soon or you'll begin to go mad. It's a side effect of the incubus hormones._ _§_ A hissing outburst of laughter followed him as he bolted up the stairs.

 _Well, I guess I'll have to call in a favor or five._

* * *

Scraps of crumpled parchment littered a desk in the library occupied by a currently black haired teen. All of this work was going to kill her! How in the nine circles of hell was knowing the myriad of potions using powdered bicorn horn as an ingredient and their intended use going to help her in catching dark wizards? It didn't help that every twenty minutes or so thoughts of a lean wizard wielding a blade while shirtless kept interfering with her work. She'd accidentally written in the phrase 'terrific arse' in the middle of the description of the draught of madness. It was first among the many pieces of crumpled parchment. _Morgana, I need to get laid!_

 _'You know I'm uniquely placed to help you with that.'_ Laughter rang out in her head, the kind she recognized from her few encounters with the focal point of her issues.

 _'Why are you in my bloody head Harry?'_ Her ire was growing with every minute.

 _'Well, if what I intruded on before was any indication, I was already on your mind_ Nym-pha _-_ dora _.'_ He'd done it now. She knew he would feel her emotions as she responded.

 _'Where in Merlin's name are you? I need to curse off your bits.'_ His laughter filled her head.

 _'Room of requirement. Careful, you could get what you wish for if you show up.'_ _That's it!_ She began angrily tossing her work and books into her bag, fully intent on using the Boy-Who-Lived as her own personal spellcasting target. Few minutes passed as she stalked up the flights of stairs to the familiar tapestry across from the door Harry resided behind. Tonks flung the door open, dropping her bag and drawing her wand immediately, only to have it hang at her side a moment later. The sight she observed was not what she expected. Sure, she had seen this younger wizard cut those weird dummies up with a sword before, but he was ripping them apart today with his bare hands. Five dummies were attacking him, and the fragments of wood laying on the floor around him suggested there were much more. Then she saw him punch a hole straight through one of them, point his finger and set another ablaze, then wave his arm and shatter the three remaining dummies before finishing his single-handed bisection of the first. A great exhalation could be heard as the boy with his back to her straightened from his fighting stance. Without turning he spoke. "Well, you made it here quickly, Tonks." The Peverell heir turned to her, displaying a fiendish grin. "Did I manage to piss you off that much?" Deep red eyes bored into emerald as her wand rose once more.

"You called me that name again! I should rip-" Her quarry had advanced swiftly and laid a hand on her shoulder, stopping her mid-sentence.

"Forgive me Nym, the Tonks I remember from before didn't mind it this much." His grip tightened on her shoulder. _Shit he's strong for a twelve-year-old!_ "If you'll give me but a few minutes I can explain why I've asked you here so suddenly and move on to asking my favor of you." The glare was still firmly affixed on her face but her hair and eyes returned to her normal purple and blue respectively.

"Five minutes. Then I start hexing." Harry's grin grew almost maniacal as two cushioned chairs appeared for them to sit on. Once the pair had taken up residence in the plush seats he began.

"So, I have a friend in the castle. Someone with great knowledge for ritual magics and a sadistic humor when it comes to me." A visible shiver ran up the boy's spine. "We went through with three rituals today. The first corrected my malnutrition, then the second one increased my endurance and my body's natural healing rate, and the third made me much stronger physically as well as one great drawback. " A look of wonder passed over the metamorphmagus' face only to be replaced by a look of confusion.

"What drawback came with the strength?" _I guess that explains how he manhandled the dummies just now._ A grim look greeted the seventh year.

"The ingredient for what he called the assimilation ritual was an incubus pituitary gland." Tonks' whole head turned bright pink at the mention of the sex creature. Harry sighed before continuing. "That gland replaced mine and made my muscles much denser, hence the strength. It also gave me, and I'm quoting the bastard right now, 'a legendary libido, and an enhancement to my reproductive organs.' Those are still all well and good for me but the drawback is that I will begin to go mad if I don't sate my lust." Occlumency was doing nothing for the teen witch in front of the savior of Britain. She'd been intrigued about what kind of fun lay below Harry's belt before, but hearing that he got an upgrade and the stamina to boot was causing her to rub her thighs together in an attempt to alleviate her own frustrations. _Oh, the possibilities. No Tonks! He's fucking twelve._ _But he's hung like an incubus and has the mind of an eighteen-year-old._ Another part of her mind piped up. The two sides of the woman warred with each other for nearly ten minutes before she sighed heavily. "I'm sorry Harry, but I can't help you out like that." _Damn my bloody morals._ Harry laughed a moment and began to fiddle with a ring on his finger.

"Will this change anything?" He removed the ring and instantly the twelve-year-old Harry disappeared, replaced by an older, decidedly hotter looking Potter. She gaped openly at this development. He looked down at himself, now barely contained by his sweatpants and his plain tee shirt. "Did I mention that the first ritual makes me look about two years older?" He flexed his muscles as she sat there kneading her thighs together more noticeably. She finally snapped, leaping from her chair at him.

 **WARNING: LEMON INCOMING!**

Tonks' momentum knocked both Harry and the chair over as she landed on him. Their lips met as she buried one hand in his crop of jet hair and the other explored the muscles under his shirt. A laugh shook his chest as his hands began to roam her sides before finding purchase on her wide hips. The rough feel of them sent a shiver up her spine. _Oh, I love this part._ She began licking his teeth, demanding full access to his mouth. He acquiesced almost immediately and she recalled the phrase 'legendary libido.' Their tongues fought for dominance before she fell to her partner and allowed him to plunder every part of her mouth. After a few minutes, the need for air forced the now pink haired teen to break the kiss. "Okay, so you know how to snog. What about the real deal?" A soft hand left his locks and traveled quickly down and into the knit pants he wore. Her eyes widened as she felt his member. _An enhancement? This was the Big Ben of genitals!_ Tugging on the soft member elicited moans from the young man, but achieved no greater hardness that she was looking for in a partner. He groaned as her handling got rougher.

"Calm down my little Nymph." A fire began to erupt from the woman as she tugged hard, now using both hands on his manhood. He chose this moment to lay kisses down the side of her neck followed by nibbling on her pulse point while his hands massaged their way up to settle under her breasts.

"Oh fuck...I guess I can...mmmph...forgive that...for now." She could not hold to her staunch dislike for her name if he continued to rain pleasure on her. With a laugh, he rolled them backward off the chair, landing on top of her with a manic grin. His lips collided with hers and his right hand left her chest, slowly making its way down under her skirt. She felt his fingers pass over her crop of pubic hair and then lightning struck. His fore and middle finger had pierced her core just as his thumb ghosted over her puffy clit. She convulsed under the hard body of Britain's savior. Harry gave her no reprieve as each new touch sent a series of electrical jolts through her body and her moans filled his mouth. As Tonks was coming down from her release, The raven-haired teen rose, bringing her with him. Now that they were both on their feet she saw he was no longer dwarfed by her height and instead stood a few inches taller. When she was released from his grip, she pried his shirt off and rained kisses down on his toned chest and abdomen. Falling to her knees, Tonks yanked his pants and boxers down roughly only to be met by her prize, a thirteen-inch monster thicker than her arm. "Gods! Does it get any bigger?" Harry burst into laughter.

"I'm not really sure Nymphy, this is my first time using it since it got super-sized." She surged forward and bit his shaft roughly. He flinched from the unexpected pain only to moan as she moved back before taking his head into her mouth. It was a feat in and of itself that she got the head in at all. As soon as she realized this she licked the contours of the great thing as she concentrated hard on changing her biology. Feeling her mouth and throat complete their change, she impaled herself on his rod. Even with the changes to her physique, taking on the Boy-Who-Lived was difficult. It didn't stop her from bobbing along the full length, though. _C'mon! Cum already so we can get the show on the road!_ Her efforts were rewarded after five minutes as Harry shivered and warned of his approaching orgasm. Not new to sex, she attempted to swallow the coming load but as he began firing rope after rope of hot cum down her throat she realized it wouldn't be that simple. As she pulled off Harry the last five spurts coated her uniform. Nymphadora blanched as she began shedding her clothes.

"Holy shit! Legendary libido eh?" As she pulled off her soaked panties, she stared at the still rock hard erection of her partner. The wizard simply shook his rod back and forth as he sat on the bed the room had conjured for them. She approached him slowly, exaggerating the sway in her walk as Harry took in her beautifully naked form. She knew her full breasts and thin waist would be considered average but her wide hips and perfectly curved ass were her claims to sexual fame. Not to mention her lovely crop of hot pink pubic hair in the shape of a heart sitting above her puffy, drenched pussy. The wonder and lust she saw in his eyes only served to make her want him more. She pushed him back until he was laid flat on his back with nothing but his manhood aimed towards the heavens. A great shiver passed through the metamorphmagus as she situated herself above him. With a great smile, she sunk herself onto his rod as slowly as she could manage. Morgana's tits, just the head of Harry's cock spread her pussy completely, not to mention the miniature orgasm that accompanied every few inches as she sank. When she'd finally sheathed the entirety of his cock inside her, she let out a victory cry. "Full to the fucking brim!" She ground herself in circles while she moaned his name like he was some long-lost sex deity. It didn't take long for her second orgasm to burn through her. Her contractions set off Harry's own release. Rope after rope of boiling hot semen filled the seventeen-year-old and she cried out to her new god. The one with emerald eyes and hair of purest black. Just as she began to come down she felt her Harry lift them from the bed, still embedded in her tight wetness. _Oh no!_

"You're not getting away with that little bit of work Nymphadora!" His hands had a death grip on her waist as he drew himself nearly out of her, then slammed himself back in roughly over and over. Her cries of ecstasy and anguish filled the room of requirement as Harry showed her what the Boy-Who-Lived could do. Ten minutes of his hard pounding began a new orgasm for the girl with a rainbow colored crop of hair falling to her mid back. Not done with his fun, the wizard pressed Tonks against the wall and really let loose, not allowing her a break from her orgasm as another erupted before the last had petered out. Her throat was raw from the exertion of screaming out his name as she finally decided on raining kisses down on his face. _I'm done, this boy has broken me completely. I'll die if he goes on much longer._ Thrice more Harry filled her pussy with his cum and nearly nine times she had experienced earth shattering orgasms at the hands of this boy.

 **LEMON COMPLETE**

When he finally laid them down on the bed Tonks couldn't even speak for her tongue lolling out of her mouth. She drifted off into her very first sex coma alongside her distant cousin. A figure not far off stared at the slumbering pair with an envious expression.

"I suppose life is for the living."

* * *

Harry woke to a stirring beside him. As he cracked open his eyes he saw a very satisfied looking Nymphadora peering at him with eyes of a light pink hue. "Good morning you beast." Her tone was playful as she gently rubbed the soft manhood of the Boy-Who-Lived. "I'm no virgin but that was definitely a new experience." Harry simply laughed.

"Well Tonks, it was either ask you to help me out or kill the elf that keeps trying to wank me off with it." She burst out laughing at his bit of cheek.

"Morgana's tits! She actually tries to fuck you?"

"Yes. It was her duty for the Malfoy's." A shiver ran up Harry's spine. "One I hope to never force on her again." He looked at her heart shaped face in contemplation for a moment. "Thank you for helping me with this Tonks." She stretched out and moaned.

"Anytime you need it I'm prepared for it." She screwed her face up in concentration again. "There, now I'm marked for you." Harry's discerning gaze raked over the woman until it landed on her pubic hair, now in the shape of a lightning bolt.

* * *

 **Alright, Ladies and Gentlemen, with that I have but one question to pose to you all. Was the lemon enjoyable? Bring any and all opinions to the table.**

 **That's the end to another chapter friends. Stay tuned for more of Death's Power.**


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